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The workplace has gone digital, with sleektabletsandcloud storagereplacing clunky desktops and filing cabinets.
Far from obsolescence, the print industry, however, also needs to evolve.
The future of print lies in four key areas: simplicity, sustainability, security, andcloud.
Director of Global Product Portfolio for Lexmark International.
Simplicity at its core
Simplicity is key in the world of print.
The stigma hanging over printers is that they have become obtuse, complicated devices.
Touchscreen interfaces, while intended to simplify operations, often bury essential functions within layers of menu icons.
The future of printers lies in its simpler past.
The printing experience must be straight-forward and hassle-free without sacrificing the many advanced features developed over the years.
Moreover, a printer designed with simplicity in mind tends to be more reliable.
Fewer components mean fewer malfunctions, leading to less frequent breakdowns and reduced maintenance costs.
Lead with sustainability
Environmental sustainability is a top priority for businesses.
While there are misguided misconceptions about contributions, printers can be beneficial to sustainability efforts.
Sustainability must be built into the very design of the printer.
Modern printers are also being designed for increased longevity.
The average lifespan of a printer is around 3-5 years.
Security first
A printer is like any other workstation or server.
They are highly technical machines connected to a online grid trafficking in highly confidential data.
Each represents a potential entry point into your web link and requires robustsecuritymeasures.
Remote management capabilities help ensure that only authorized personnel can configure the machine for data pipe access.
Automated pre-screening can inspect firmware packages before activation on a machine.
Dataencryption, both in transit and at rest, safeguards sensitive information from unauthorized access.
Enterprises are relieved from the burden and expense of managing these tasks internally.
With the shift to the cloud, all these operations are happening with significantly greater efficiency.
The future of print is not about printing less its about printing smarter.
We’ve featured the best all-in-one printer.
The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc.
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