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A Vertical-Market Approach to Document Services in the U.S.: The Evolution from Printer to Partner

# Pages: 493
Publication Date: August 2006
Service: Production Workflow Solutions
Region: North America

Introduction

The successful document services provider of today has evolved from the average provider of just a few years ago. Many of today’s providers are savvier, business-process-focused, and capable of delivering a broad range of document services beyond print. They have cultivated a comprehensive knowledge of their customers’ business challenges, and understand how to leverage that knowledge to enable greater success for their customers as well as their own enterprises.

This is a significant evolution that has occurred due to customer demand, and it has dramatically increased the need for service providers to understand their customers’ business situations. Core to this understanding is knowledge of customers’ vertical industries and the documents and document-intensive workflows that are of key importance to those industries. Vertical industry expertise forms the foundation for a business process approach to document services.

Vertical industry information is also a critical component of strategic planning for document services providers who seek to grow customer share and total customer base. An understanding of primary print applications and important ancillary services enables document services executives to effectively evaluate opportunities and select those that offer the greatest growth and/or most closely match the capabilities of their organizations and offer the greatest chance for success.

InfoTrends' study will provide the information that document services providers and their suppliers require to better serve their existing markets, increase their share, and successfully target new opportunities.

Project Objectives

The study will survey document owners and print buyers across multiple vertical industries in the U.S. to create a detailed profile of the document services requirements in each market. This study will focus on document services that are provided on-site or off-site by internal, staffed print or copy centers or by external printers, service bureaus, or document outsourcing providers. It will explicitly exclude document applications produced on un-staffed, self-service workgroup or personal devices.

This study will profile the document services requirements for 10 vertical industries. The industries will be defined by their North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code. The following industries are suggested, but the final list will be determined by the charter subscribers to the study.

• Educational Services (NAICS 61)
• Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support (NAICS 921)
• Financial Services (with the following NAICS codes to be considered as a single group)
• Credit Intermediation and Related Activities (NAICS 522)
• Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (NAICS 523)
• Health Care and Social Assistance (NAICS 62)
• Insurance Carriers and Related Activities (NAICS 524)
• Legal Services (NAICS 5411)
• Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing (NAICS 3254)
• Retail Trade (NAICS 44 and 45)
• Telecommunications (NAICS 517)
• Transportation Equipment Manufacturing (NAICS 336)

Who Should Subscribe

• Print Service and Document Outsourcing Service Providers
• Business Process Outsourcing Companies
• Commercial Printers/Specialty Printers
• Quick Printers/Franchises
• Digital Printers
• Publishers
• Statement Printers
• e-Print Providers
• Print Brokers
• Corporate Managers, Document Owners, and Print Buyers seeking information on the opportunities presented by document process outsourcing
• Equipment Manufacturers who serve the printing industry

Project Deliverables

InfoTrends will conduct extensive analysis of primary and secondary research to develop a comprehensive understanding of the document services requirements for each vertical market, and the opportunities and issues for document services providers. Clients will receive a variety of reports and data designed for senior management, product managers and planners, and sales and marketing executives. The material will include:

• An Executive Summary that addresses key issues, findings, and overall recommendations
• A detailed written report with text, charts, and graphs addressing the objectives of the study
• A set of PowerPoint slides for internal communication of the research result
• A data book of survey research for additional analysis of key questions and market segments with extensive cross-tabulated data

Getting Started

For more information on the study, contact Alison Hipp at +1 , ext. 126 or via e-mail at .