The rising popularity of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, and cloud-based services like Dropbox and Google Apps have changed the way we work. People expect to be able to work from anywhere and have access to files and applications from whichever device they’re on – including printers. Therefore, companies today are required to adapt to this mobile trend and give employees the opportunity to print from any device.
This is the conclusion of a new report from Quocirca, a business and IT analyst specializing in the impact of information technology and communications.
But what are the benefits of mobile printing for companies? What should they look for when choosing a service? And does printing on the go really increase productivity?
We have taken a closer look at the study entitled “The Mobile Print Enterprise“, in which the analyst firm explores the realm of mobile workers and highlights current trends in understanding how businesses can best provide a mobile print solution suitable for the ever growing need to work on the go.
So what does the study conclude? Here’s a brief overview of Quocirca’s findings:
The workplace is going digital but still relies on paper Workers are embracing mobile devices: 91% use a smartphone for work and 44% use a tablet. So that means paper is obsolete, right? Not quite: more than half of respondents to the Quocirca survey said that printing is essential to many business activities.
Mobile printing increases productivity Companies that offer mobile printing to their employees add flexibility and convenience to the work environment, which in turn increases productivity.
Security is a top priority in mobile printing More than half of organizations in the study have experienced data breaches through printing. In bringing printing to different devices and platforms, secure print job releases and authentication are therefore necessary to minimize the risk.
A standard cross-platform solution is needed The current available solutions either only support a certain brand of printers or a certain mobile device. A universal mobile print service that works with all types of printers and across all platforms is therefore needed.
Quocirca encourages companies to adapt their printing service to the mobile trend with a secure and simple solution that works with any device in order to cut costs, optimize productivity, and minimize security risks. Mobile printing is already a growing trend: while just 5% of companies currently offer mobile printing to their employees, almost 25% of companies are currently exploring mobile printing solutions.
More and more corporations today are looking into the way in which mobile printing can add value to their business. Soon mobile workers will expect a flexible and mobile printing solution from their employer. Is your printing solution ready for the mobile revolution?
