Ricoh calls for action in face of growing mobile print demand

• 
  Simon Quicke

  Microscope Editor
• Published: 02 Mar 2012 16:01

Ricoh has called for more businesses to acknowledge the impact of consumerisation on their printing plans with employees looking to connect more mobile devices to the network.

Quoting recent research from analysts Quocirca, which revealed 60% of businesses agreed that staff wanted to print from mobile devices but only 5% could offer it, the printer vendor called on more work to be done by firms.

"For businesses to remain competitive, it's crucial they support their employees to work in a more mobile, flexible way. This includes providing employees with the ability to access and print important business documents whether they are in their regular place of work, in another office, or on the move," said Emma Isichei, director of advanced solutions centre, Ricoh Europe.

The vendor has published its own research in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit predicting that consumerisation will accelerate and employees will want to print from their own devices.

Louella Fernandes, analyst at Quocirca, said that those firms that ignored the rising tide of consumerisation could leave themselves open to problems.

"Organisations that ignore the impact of consumerisation on their print environment can be open to risk, as employees will bypass IT to use alternative consumer printing apps. These solutions may not offer sufficient protection and will also prevent organisations from tracking and controlling print usage," she said.