Managed print services (MPS) finally seem to be gaining moment but the market for MPS services will still face some challenges, according to a recent study by CompTIA, the Computing Technology Industry Association.

The CompTIA study, entitled Examining the Print and Document Management Market, has some mixed results. Three out of four companies surveyed said that going paperless and adopting green initiatives is important to them. But those companies are also realists. They know printing is a huge part of their day-to-day business operations.

So if they must print, why not adopt a managed print services strategy to cut costs and free up staff? We’ve seen recent examples of this when an Ohio community college contracted Xerox for managed print services and Ricoh signed a managed document services deal with Benedict College. Both were done in an effort to cut costs.

The survey included 400 IT and business executives who are directly involved in their company’s print and managed document operations. The majority said they would like to see maintenance and management around their printing operations improve to achieve greater uptime rates.

The study included small businesses and enterprises and revealed a sharp difference between the two: About half of the enterprises said they already use managed print services in some capacity, while only 20 percent of small businesses do so. CompTIA Vice President of Research Tim Herbert attributed the gap to more complex printing needs for higher organizations.

The study also found that firms currently offering managed print services anticipate strong double-digit year-over-year growth, in some cases approaching 60 percent growth. Those firms expect to see an increase in demand from Enterprises and SMBs, with falls in line with Bill DeStefanis’ assessment last week that SMBs are ready for managed document services.