Asia-Pacific managed print services market to grow

The managed print services market in Asia Pacific is forecast to grow at a compound CAGR of 15.5 percent from US$419.9 million in 2008 to US$863.4 million in 2013, said IDC recently.

According to the research house, MPS in the emerging economies of China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia, are expected to see rapid growth in the next five years. Albeit at a declining rate, mature markets such as Australia, Korea and Singapore will also continue to see growth.

"The current economy is turning organizations away from capital investments, resulting in an increase in demand for extension of warranties and increased services and maintenance contracts," said Suchitra Narayan, research manager for IDC's Asia/Pacific IT Services Research. "The decline in hardware sales is being adequately balanced by the demand for MPS. IDC expects a significant segment of the hardware refresh cycles scheduled for 2010 to be delayed to early 2011, therefore improving the services demand for 2010."

Cost management remains key focus

Cost management is still the common and key focus across verticals and countries, said IDC.

While early 2008 saw a migration from basic cost savings to value added services such as business process improvements and green technologies, the current economic conditions have forced organizations to revisit their focus on the basics -- cost management, the firm added. MPS fits well into the new demand from organizations which is migrating CAPEX top OPEX and increasing the lifecycle of hardware.

IDC expects to see double-digit CAGRs for MPS market from 2009 to 2013, especially in China, India and Indonesia, assuming political stability in these markets.

The China and India markets, in particular, represent large opportunities that are the only bright sparks in IT services for the Asia Pacific market given the current economy, said IDC.

IDC believes that India will see robust growth of 6.7 percent in 2009 for IT services and for China IT services, growth of 11.7 percent. Although Indonesia accounts for only 3.5 percent of the total MPS market in the region, the country is keen to adopt proven models and is looking for document management systems that have been tried and tested by neighboring countries, said IDC, adding that the Indonesia MPS market is projected to grow at 18.6 percent year-on-year.

Finance and government sectors continue to invest

Despite the uncertain economic times, the financial and government sectors, which are key proponents of document management solutions in the region, will continue to invest in the same, according to IDC.

The rational for investments are varied with the financial sector focusing on cost management, operational efficiency, transparency and compliance; while the government sector, targeting operational efficiencies, is keen to invest in the local market to boost the economy, IDC noted.

A recent IDC peripherals, hardware, software and services, conducted in 10 countries across the region, revealed that 18.8 percent of the organizations polled in the financial sector will continue to seek document related solutions, particularly print accounting and management related solutions, over the next one to two years.

Because of the changes in the fundamentals of doing business within the financial sector, and the increasing focus on transparency and compliance, document archival and storage will also be a key area with 26.7 percent of organizations polled, seeking such solutions in the short term, compared to 16.8 percent who will focus on document security and 15.8 percent on scan related solutions, IDC concluded.