There is a drive by South African organisations to move away from black and white to colour printing.
This is according to Jaco Smit, national product manager for wide-format printing systems at Oc'e SA. Nonetheless, Smit points out that the switch to colour printing needs to be controlled to keep costs down.
To find out about the trends in the printing business locally, ITWeb and Oc'e, a digital document management and delivery technology firm, today unveiled the Print Survey.
“We intend to follow the growing trends in colour printing. We also want to establish the amount of printing that is outsourced and which departments need to grow colour printing within an organisation,” notes Smit.
He also points out that there is a tendency by local businesses to outsource complex prints to get an all-in-one offering.
Highlighting the advantages of outsourcing print services, Smit notes that companies do not need experienced prepossessing staff if they are outsourcing. “When outsourcing print services, organisations will also eliminate the need to keep stock of consumables,” he adds.
Last year, ITWeb carried out a managed print survey, and discovered that the majority of businesses (49%) defined managed print as services of printing and imaging infrastructure, while 23% viewed it as an outsourced service. On the other hand, 21% revealed it is the active management and optimisation of document output devices.
Smit also notes that outsourcing can be costly and can expose security and document integrity holes. On security, he says, there are a lot of software solutions that can help secure and erase documents from printers.
“Include prints with security codes. Also, use paper or scanners that can prevent copying of documents in one form or another,” Smit urges.
Among other things, the survey also aims to gain information on print volumes within organisations, as well as the factors that businesses consider when purchasing a printer.
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