By Ron Chen, Correspondent ASEAN Region

The increased shift to hybrid work – coupled with digitalization initiatives – has caused organizations to re-think their reliance on paper documents and printers while finding solutions that enable mobility, security, accessibility, and business resilience. According to IDC’s Survey Presentation Accelerated versus Gradual Transformers in APeJ (Asia Pacific excluding Japan), over 75 per cent of organizations expect printed page volume to decrease over the next two years. Coupled with close to half of all organizations (47.7%) expecting a reduction in print devices, these trends suggest rapid maturity and adoption of document solutions as the region looks to digitize paper processes.

Countries were divided into Accelerated or Gradual Transformers, depending on responses relating to likelihood of going completely paperless, timeline for WorkSpace transformation, and degree to which they say print volume and print devices decreasing over the next two years. Accelerated Transformers include India, Thailand Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and Korea, while Gradual Transformers include China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

“Both groups will transform the WorkSpace to address a hybrid workforce, increasing the accessibility of print services through solutions or feature upgrades to enable work from anywhere,” says Senior Market Analyst for Imaging, Print and Document Solutions at IDC Asia/Pacific, Kenneth Tham.

India, Thailand, and Malaysia respondents indicating they would see print volumes and devices decrease to a larger degree than digitally mature countries like Australia and Korea. This suggests their short-term investments into document solutions will be focused on transforming business process while nearly eliminating the need for paper. On the other hand, Taiwan and Hong Kong were classified as Gradual Transformer despite being digitally mature countries – it resonates the legislative value printed documents still hold in these countries. Their document transformation initiatives will address the co-existence of paper and digital documents, ensuring data from all sources is captured and fed into core business systems.

Accelerated and Gradual Transformers were examined in terms of how they would transform the WorkSpace, coupled with which document solutions would they use to augment business processes. Respondents were also asked on plans to digitize live / backlog documents, whether in-house or outsourced services will be used, and what factors will they prioritize when selecting a scanning vendor.

IDC’s Asia/Pacific Next-Generation Imaging, Printing and Document Solutions research examines the new opportunities on print environment from smart scan/print devices and managed workflow services to 3D printing. This research provides insights on the potential innovation that will disrupt the traditional print hardware market in Asia/Pacific. In light of the adoption of 3rd Platform technologies particularly on cloud, Big Data, and mobility, end users continue to evaluate and adopt new solutions to enhance their workflow environment from the desktop level to the industrial level.