HP has achieved a 47% year-on-year growth in the $20 billion managed print services market.
This is according to Lidia Ngengebule, newly appointed HP managed enterprise service country manager. Ngengebule's primary role is to drive managed services into the enterprise segment in SA.
Ngengebule previously held the role of country manager of HP Ink Jet Printers for the consumer division, after joining HP in 2005 as a supplies corporate manager.
She points out that most enterprises have neglected the exponentially increasing costs of printing and imaging. “Printing tends to be the last thing an organisation thinks about in terms of planning for infrastructure and consolidation.”
According to global research firm Gartner, enterprises spend between 1% and 3% of their annual expenditure on printing. And in some paper-intensive industries such as banking and legal, that number is even higher.
“From an IT infrastructure point of view, one of the biggest trends we're seeing is that companies are looking to outsource their entire printing environment in order to control costs. Our customers are looking at both price and the long-term benefits of moving into the managed printing services market.”
According to Ngengebule, 60% of an organisation's internal phone calls directed at the IT help desk are printing related. She explains that the rising cost and complexity of managing high volumes of printers is one of IT's biggest challenges.
“The majority of enterprises generally do not know how much they spend on paper and ink. Around 30% of their budget can be saved simply by printing through managed printing services.”
Ngengebule explains, without providing specific details, that HP plans to make acquisitions and bolster its channel partnership programme this year in the managed services space.
“We will be driving more acquisitions in this space and will continue to partner with organisations where it makes sense for us. HP is ensuring that we deliver products and solutions that are environmentally sustainable.”
Last month, HP released its financial results for the second fiscal quarter, ended 30 April, with net revenue of $30.8 billion, up 13%, or $3.5 billion from a year earlier.
The HP Imaging and Printing Group saw revenue increase by 8% to reach $6.4 billion. Supplies revenue was up 6%, while commercial hardware and consumer hardware revenues increased 13% and 16% respectively.
Printer unit shipments increased 9%, with commercial printer hardware units down 8% and consumer printer hardware units up 15%.
Share