A new white paper published by research and analyst company Quocirca and sponsored by Nuance Communications highlights the need for businesses to adopt intelligent print management solutions and vigorously enforce print policies if they are to reduce print-related energy consumption. Entitled 'A sustainable print agenda', the whitepaper found that 45% of organisations stated that reducing energy consumption remained a key challenge. The whitepaper outlines why and how private and public sector organisations in the UK, Germany and France, must re-evaluate their current print culture and habits if they are to succeed in their quest to operate a sustainable office. The whitepaper can be downloaded for free here.
Organisations face increasing legislative pressure from the Climate Change Act and CRC Energy Efficiency schemes to cap their carbon emissions, which, across some countries in Europe, is a mandatory requirement to report. Print management solutions – aligned with energy efficient Multi-Functional Printers (MFP) – address these pressures by helping organizations reduce print costs and print volumes by identifying and eliminating non-essential printing. Reduced printing has the added benefit of helping organisations achieve their energy efficiency goals.
The challenge organizations have in reducing energy consumption may be linked to the finding that 55% of respondents do not possess insight into their paper and MFP use. In addition to having energy and environmental implications, this lack of insight impacts not just their energy usage and environmental impacts, it also has implications on other aspects of MFP use, such as unmonitored and escalating consumable and paper costs. Print management solutions assist in addressing these concerns by helping organizations reduce their financial and environmental waste.
Some of the other key findings in the white paper include:
? While an encouraging 80% of organisations have a print policy in place, only a third strictly enforce it.
? 36% of UK businesses stated that enforcing print policy was one of the main challenges they faced in managing their existing print infrastructure.
? Only 20% of large organisations are routing large print jobs to the most appropriate device for that task.
? Over 50% of companies have not put rules in place to regulate the use of colour printing, according to the research.
The whitepaper also features case studies explaining how two organisations including an NHS Trust – which saved £36,000 in print costs – and a financial services company, used print management and imaging solutions from Nuance to bring their printing under usage and financial control.
Simon Hill, Sales Director for Nuance Imaging, said: "This latest research paints two pictures. The first is that organisations finally grasp the impact that unmanaged print and poor printing habits have on their business and the environment. The second is that they are taking initiatives to reduce their print output and costs, albeit with mixed results. Improvements to the progress they have made so far can be accelerated through the deployment of print management solutions, particularly at a time when the role of MFPs is evolving from that of primarily being an output device, to that of being a scan and capture device that's at the heart of an organisation's document workflow process."
The Nuance Document Imaging software portfolio includes Equitrac, SafeCom and Copitrak print management and cost recovery software, Nuance eCopy ShareScan scanning and workflow solutions, and Nuance OmniPage, PaperPort, PDF Converter Professional and eCopy PDF Pro Office desktop applications. Nuance Document Imaging solutions help companies to secure their data, boost productivity, increase efficiency and streamline enterprise workflows. Nuance delivers end-to-end solutions that support workflows from MFPs to desktop and mobile devices in the cloud.
