Western Europe MPDS and BPS Forecast, 2023-2027

IDC believes maturity in the enterprise space means it will be difficult to achieve growth in that sector going forward. However, the SMB market is buoyant and growing, fueled by cloud enablement and the requirement to manage print and the printing infrastructure. There are many factors driving growth among SMB customers, not the least of which is the fact that the SMB market is less impacted by ongoing issues around return to work and a transition to flexible work policies. At the same time, most SMB customers are first-time adopters of MPDS and print management. As a result, these customers are heavily influenced by features that provide added value and drive increased productivity, which means a focus on cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), mobility, and security. Additionally, the cost of directly selling MPDS to SMBs is decreasing due to cloud-enabled technology innovation, and for that reason, we forecast some large SMBs will opt for MPDS contracts or trade up from BPS contracts. Small SMBs might trade down and favor some kind of usage-based subscription model contract rather than a BPS or MPDS contract. But in long term, the impact of generative AI (GenAI) is an unknown factor that could eventually commoditize the print services market, negating the need for providers, with user tools largely replacing and fulfilling all the low- and high-value functions and components of a print services and management contract. The accelerated race to the bottom in terms of price represents an existential business threat to service providers.This IDC Market Forecast study provides our updated 2023-2027 forecast for the managed print and document services and basic print services market. "IDC believes there is still some growth in the European MPDS and BPS markets," said Sharon McNee, research manager, IDC's Imaging, Printing, and Document Solutions. "Organizations of all sizes are looking to make their printing practices fit for purpose in the wake of the dramatic impact of recent global disruptions and the ongoing drive to digitization and automation. While cloud, IoT, mobility, and security are critical, cost remains the number 1 purchasing influencer. To remain relevant and competitive, vendors and channel partners will need to deploy a range of cost-effective contractual print services tailored to meet the needs of specific customers and use cases, passing on any technology-derived cost benefits."