Most organizations are still paying a hidden cost for infrastructure they haven't questioned in years. In this episode, Vasion's Director of Product Marketing Devin Payne joins host Channon Voyce to introduce the concept of the "print tax" — the unnecessary costs and inefficiencies organizations absorb by relying on legacy print environments. Using the analogy of VCRs and VHS tapes, Devin illustrates how print has lagged behind the shift to streamlined, cloud-based systems that other parts of the business have already made. From disconnected vendors and server rooms to rising expectations for automated workflows, this conversation breaks down where the print tax comes from, what it actually costs, and how intelligent print automation eliminates it without requiring any change in user behavior.
In this episode:
Introductions
Channon Voyce, Vasion's customer marketing manager, hosts Devin Payne, Director of Product Marketing at Vasion, to unpack the concept of the print tax.
What is the "print tax"?
Devin introduces the term to describe the unnecessary costs and inefficiencies organizations continue to pay because of their reliance on legacy print infrastructure.
The VCR analogy
Devin compares legacy print environments to the bulky, expensive infrastructure once required to watch a movie: physical tape libraries, rewinders, and video rental stores. Just as VCRs required all of that overhead, legacy print requires server rooms, climate-controlled spaces, multiple vendors, disconnected systems, and ongoing help desk support.
Why print has lagged behind
Print has fallen behind other areas of digital transformation because the scale of change is significant and organizations already have established processes in place. Devin calls print "the caboose" on the modernization train, even as it remains essential across industries like legal, real estate, healthcare, and retail.
The real cost of the print tax
Depending on organization size, the print tax can run into unseen millions of dollars, driven by disconnected systems, multiple vendors, onboarding overhead, and rising expectations from customers and employees for faster, automated workflows.
The solution: Intelligent Print Automation
Devin lays out Vasion's three-step approach: eliminating legacy print hardware, consolidating print software onto a single visible platform, and automating document workflows so printed documents are automatically archived, digitized, and made searchable — all without requiring users to change their behavior.
What's next
The episode closes with a preview of upcoming topics: a deeper look at hardware elimination, software consolidation, and print security, including how print servers can serve as attack vectors.