While the concept of the paperless office was predicted more than forty years ago, it’s proven to be more myth than reality despite a wealth of advancements in technology. However, while the office of the foreseeable future will still contain paper, those in the know believe our printing habits are in decline, according to a survey by Photizo, the leading market intelligence and consulting firm with dedicated focus on the imaging industry. The firm recently surveyed 50 printing industry professionals to get their views on the future of printed output and their results may surprise you.
The vast majority, 82 percent of respondents, believe office printing volumes are already declining, with another 11 percent of the opinion that page volumes will begin to decline in the next four years. With an overwhelming amount of respondents admitting to printing’s decline, all that remains in question is the rate at which office printing will drop. Interestingly, 50 percent believe printing declines will accelerate or be dramatic, while 32 percent expect the decline to be relatively flat.
The reality is, we’re printing less because people simply want to print less—whether it’s to keep costs down or be more environmentally friendly. And thanks to modern technology, like document management solutions, we don’t need to print as much as we did in the past. In addition, organizations realize that utilizing and storing digital documents instead of their paper counterparts improves efficiency, reduces costs, and optimizes business processes. All of this contributes to the decline in office printing.
So even if you’re not a printing industry insider, it’s easy to see why the writing is on the wall heralding the decline of paper usage in the office of the future. That said, printed documents still provide a number of benefits to organizations, including keeping up with internal regulatory compliance efforts. Instead, a more reasonable expectation in our lifetimes is the “paper-light” office. The arrival of the actual paperless office is still many, many years away. If ever.
Monster Technology is prepared to handle all of your business technology needs, including making your office “paper light.” Contact us today to learn more about our cost-effective office solutions.