European Market for Managed Print Services to Reach $4.0 Billion by 2014 as Businesses Turn Focus to Productivity and Efficiency

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Nov 09, 2010, 04:00 ET

LONDON, November 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Successful businesses need to be relentless in their quest for increased efficiency and productivity to keep their competitive edge. While cost cutting measures have been commonplace in recent years due to challenging economic times, an ageing workforce will continue to drive the need for increased productivity for businesses across Europe[1]. Ricoh Europe (http://www.ricoh-europe.com/?campaignid=BGO), a specialist in office solutions, managed document services and production printing, today released a survey, conducted by IDC that explores Managed Print Services (MPS) (http://mdsresearch.ricoh-europe.com/eu/), an area projected to grow by $1.6 billion over the next six years, as a strategy for reducing cost while at the same time increasing productivity.[2]

The MPS penetration rate among European enterprises of 500 employees or more is currently 20 percent[3], with a healthy growth rate projected over upcoming years. The increasing level of adoption aligns with survey respondents identifying organisational efficiency and employee productivity as top concerns for their businesses in 2011, two areas addressed by MPS.

However, many organisations aren't gaining the full benefits of their MPS investment. The study reveals that behind successful implementation is a combination of process, people and technology; essential elements to ensure enhanced productivity is realised and that employees are getting the right information at the right time. With this in mind, Ricoh has developed a Managed Document Services offering (MDS), which goes beyond the traditional MPS elements. It starts by evaluating business and employee work processes and leads into a full support programme where Ricoh implements the technology and continues to govern the resulting tailored solution.

"Document workflow initiatives are increasingly being identified as one of the last untapped areas of the IT infrastructure to deliver significant productivity enhancements," said, Leigh Worthing, IDC's lead analyst for European Managed Print Services. "As such it is important for both customers and service providers to understand the pitfalls and opportunities involved. The research we have conducted sheds light on the factors to consider when implementing and managing MPS in order to realise its full benefit."

"There is no denying that the workforce is constantly changing and that regular review of work processes plays a crucial part in maximising business efficiency," said Jim Potter, Executive Vice President, Operations Ricoh Europe PLC. "To ensure that businesses are ready for the future workforce we are providing a solution that goes beyond technology, taking both people and process into consideration. This will drive productivity increase as well as real business value."

    For more information on MDS, please visit http://www.ricoh-europe.com
    To download the full whitepaper visit
http://www.ricoh-europe.com/mdsresearch

About Ricoh Europe

Ricoh Company, Ltd ("Ricoh Company") is a global technology leader, specialising in the office and production printing markets. Ricoh works with organisations around the world to modernise work environments and optimise document efficiency.

With over 108,500 employees worldwide, it operates in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, China and Japan. Ricoh Europe Holdings Plc is a public limited company and the EMEA headquarters of Ricoh Company with operations located in London, United Kingdom and Amstelveen, the Netherlands. In the fiscal year ended 31 March 2010, revenues from Ricoh's EMEA operations totalled over YEN 458.5 billion ($4.5 bn) Ricoh Company's worldwide sales totalled over YEN 2,016 billion ($21bn) during the year ended 31 March 2010.

[1] U.S. Census Bureau, "Depopulation and Ageing in Europe and Japan: The Hazardous Transition to a Labor Shortage Economy", http://www.globalaging.org/health/world/depopulationeuropejapan.html (accessed September 14, 2010).

[2] IDC Worldwide Print and Document Outsourcing Services, 2009-2014 Forecast and Analysis.

[3] IDC's 2009 Global Managed Print Services survey (European extract)

Home page: http://www.ricoh-europe.com

SOURCE Ricoh Europe