Meeting Print Challenges in a Broader Digital Ecosystem
Equally gratifying for us is the report’s validation of the challenges we have seen evolve firsthand as we have worked to help organizations modernize their print management:
“The reality is clear: print now sits inside a broader digital ecosystem, not alongside it. Customers expect seamless alignment with cloud platforms, identity systems, security architectures, and applications.”
In response to this challenge, Quocirca also offered three invaluable recommendations that companies can follow to navigate this new digital ecosystem in print management.
1. Improve the Digital Capture of Data From Printed Documents
The report emphasizes the need for companies to connect hardware to the greater flow of data, stating, “The [multifunctional printer] has evolved to become an intelligent, interconnected hub.” It also goes on to recommend including “AI-enabled productivity, environmental, and security features” and enabling third-party integrations in printers, as a means to capture more of the data that is typically lost when printers are viewed as endpoints.
This direction highlights a critical insight that all companies must embrace: digital transformation efforts depend on the complete capture of all relevant data, including data on printed sheets of paper in shredders, trashbins, and filing cabinets. Vendors and customers alike must remake their print paradigm to account for how data contained in printed documents will be tracked, analyzed, and routed to inform AI systems or contribute to operational intelligence. Companies that are able to successfully capture and route all data from printed documents will have complete data from which to drive their digitization initiatives.
Vasion, for example, accomplishes this through a cloud-native document workflow automation solution, which uses intelligent document processing capabilities to automatically capture the data contained in every document and then route it to the appropriate systems for use. Critical information that would have been lost in a printer tray finds new value contributing to the success of the organization’s digitization initiatives.
2. Employ Software to Tackle Evolving Printing Challenges
Quocirca’s report clearly emphasizes the need to move away from a hardware-centric approach, instead encouraging companies to move toward device manufacturers that employ software to keep up with their evolving workflow automation, security, compliance, policy enforcement, and digital transformation challenges.
While organizations can certainly find small gains in this approach, they can find even greater improvements with print management platforms, like Vasion, that are device-agnostic and able to interface with any printer—regardless of operating system, MFD, or identity provider (IdP).
3. Transition to a Cloud-Native Solution
Quocirca’s report encourages companies to transition from on-prem software solutions to more flexible hybrid or cloud-native solutions.
This is a clear endorsement of the absolutely essential status of cloud software in print management going forward. From eliminating print servers to erasing hardware maintenance costs to increasing scalability and extending security controls, the benefits of cloud-native solutions are undeniable. In addition, with solutions like Vasion, these transitions are typically easy to undergo.
Leading the Way to Intelligent Print Automation
Vasion is proud to be included in Quocirca’s list of ACT Leaders in the print industry. We are also heartened by the report’s validation of print management trends and solutions we have identified and championed over the last several years.
As we continue to lead the way in bringing print management into the digital ecosystem and better leveraging AI, automation, and cloud-based platforms and collaboration—what we call Intelligent Print Automation—we are excited to see the leaps in cost reduction, security, compliance, and digital transformation that will come from it.
To learn which print management manufacturers and software vendors are leading the way in empowering companies to benefit from automation, AI, collaboration, and the cloud, download an excerpt of Quocirca’s “2026 Print Industry Ecosystem Leadership Report.”
