Firms in Europe are set to increase their spending on document solutions as they seek to cut costs and boost productivity.
Research by IT analyst IDC forecasts the market will grow to £1.6 billion in 2014, up from £1 billion in 2010.
In this uncertain economic environment companies are looking for ways to reduce costs and improve efficiencies, the firm said.
This is driving demand for managed print services and document solutions that enable business process efficiencies and cost controls linked to printing, it claimed.
"Companies of all sizes are focusing on reducing costs and driving efficiencies," said Arnaud Gagneux, director, imaging hardcopy and document solutions Europe at IDC.
"Large corporations and the public sector lead the way and small and medium businesses are now asking for affordable solutions that will help them identify, monitor, and reduce print costs as well as control the way documents are used while streamlining some paper-based processes."
Recently, it was claimed that small firms can reduce costs and boost productivity by transferring many of their operations to outsourcing.
Martyn Hart, chairman of the National Outsourcing Association (NOA), said that given there are fewer pounds in shoppers' pockets, the marketplace is "more competitive than ever".
A string of back-office operations, such as accounts, human resources and IT, are a distraction that can easily be outsourced, Mr Hart said.
As a result, small business owners need to focus on operations that will get the cash till ringing.
"[It is] better to focus on things like customer satisfaction, outmanoeuvring the competition and securing new business," he claimed.
There is little point in taking on payroll tasks when a third-party specialist can do this quicker, cheaper and better, he argued.
"Outsourcing is not just about cutting costs. Dedicating your time and energy to strategic leadership will improve your businesses' prospects in these difficult economic times," Mr Hart said.
Posted by Louise Tate
http://www.ihotdesk.com/articl...on-document-services
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