PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
The majority of law firms expect their dependence on paper to decrease over the next five years.
This, however, doesn’t reflect in the increasing print volumes, which have been up until now, and don’t show signs of slowing.
A survey from Annodata of 100 legal IT directors found that only 42 per cent of law firms asked had MPS in place, and around 50 per cent don’t plan on introducing it at all.
55 per cent said that their main focus going forward was to save costs, and 20 per cent want to improve reliability. Just three per cent showed an interest in improving their security.
Rod Tonna-Barthet, group sales director at Annodata said: “Reducing paper consumption and driving down costs are intrinsically linked to managed print and document services, so it’s surprising that half of law firms haven’t yet made the connection.
“There’s a disparity between what is believed to be happening and what we have seen consistently over the last few years; far from going down, paper volumes have increased.
“Given advances in technology and the proliferation of mobile devices, it’s bizarre that far more cost effective and environmentally friendly practices haven’t been adopted.
“Until the court system is overhauled, nothing much will change with regards to the required paper output, and with that being the case, law firms will need to get smarter about how they print, store and manage their documentation.”
Experts said recently that tech distributors can do more to push the growing managed print services business model and better support their customers.
