Geopolitical uncertainties push costs to the top of the list of top print management challenges
Konica Minolta has not only retained its leadership status in Quocirca’s annual review of the Managed Print Services (MPS) market for the fifth consecutive year, but the company has also advanced its position. As every year, the report also includes research across 400 organizations using MPS in the UK, France, Germany and the US on their biggest challenges in terms of print management, their top print-related priorities, the importance of MPS in relation to digital transformation, and much more.
Cost control and security at the top of the list of challenges
Quocirca's “The Managed Print Services Market Landscape” report highlights the impact of geopolitical uncertainties, which are leading to “immediate, risk-focused factors” such as costs (cost control (41%); reducing costs associated with on-premise print servers (37%)) and security (securing printing across a hybrid workforce (38%); educating users on print security (35%)) are cited as the top print management challenges.
Workflow integration as the key to digitalization
Better solutions for integrating print and scan workflows (28%), reducing print volumes (26%), and security solutions (25%) are also the three most important priorities for print management in the coming year. According to Quocirca, the first point in particular “reflects the growing recognition of MPS as a key enabler for digitization and a critical first step towards streamlining business processes and workflow automation.”
Managed Print Services remain a key driver of digital transformation
The vast majority (89%) of respondents also stated that MPS is either very important (43%) or fairly important (46%) to their digital transformation efforts, and almost three quarters (71%) are expecting to increase their investment in MPS, with the expected benefits of improved service quality and reliability (55%), enhanced security (55%) as well as reducing consumable (52%) and hardware (50%) costs.
Quocirca therefore notes that “MPS continue to evolve as an enabler for workplace transformation, helping organizations modernize the print infrastructure to reduce costs, enhance security, and support the flexibility of a hybrid workforce. This strategic shift allows businesses to offload the burden of managing and maintaining a complex printer fleet, freeing up IT resources to focus on core business initiatives and enabling a more efficient, agile, and sustainable operational model.”
Konica Minolta meets key market requirements: cost, security, and workflow automation
Quocirca recognizes a key strength of Konica Minolta’s comprehensive offering being its Digital Workplace portfolio which includes Managed Print and Workflow Automation Services, Intelligent Information Management, Business Process and Business Intelligence Services, and Managed IT Services.
“Konica Minolta has advanced its leadership position in Quocirca’s 2025 assessment of the MPS market,” states the report. “The vendor has continued to invest in its MPS offering to deliver comprehensive print management and document workflow optimisation through cloud-based solutions, centralised print management, and cost-control measures. It has a global, unified portfolio of workplace services and an expanded focus on AI-enabled information management.” In addition, “Konica Minolta delivers a robust, system-wide approach to securing the print and document infrastructure”
Efficient cost control through AI and transparent pricing structures
Quocirca emphasizes that Konica Minolta uses artificial intelligence with its cloud-based Optimized Print Services (OPS) backbone platform to automatically monitor consumables, predict maintenance requirements, and replenish stocks just-in-time. This data-driven control reduces operating costs, minimizes downtime, and increases efficiency across the entire print management process.
Security as an integral part of all solutions
According to Quocirca, another strength lies in the consistent integration of security features into all products and services. With the Shield Guard platform, Konica Minolta offers a cloud-based security solution that monitors the status of each individual device, detects security deviations, and automatically remedies them in realtime.
Workflow automation as the driver of digital transformation
Quocirca describes Konica Minolta as a leader in connecting print, scan, and digital processes. Dispatcher solutions and Workplace Pure enable companies to integrate print and scan workflows into existing IT systems and automate paper-based processes. This integration increases productivity, reduces sources of error, and creates the basis for end-to-end digital processes.
