01732 759725 40 VOX POP continued... continuing to encourage employees back to workplaces, and a re-engaging of some traditional working practices. Volumes will remain below prepandemic levels with many processes now transitioned to full digital workflows. And this trend is likely to increase with additional AI capabilities – although the market for this will take time to mature and have a wider impact. At a macro level, the continuing economic climate, the uncertain political backdrop with a possible General Election in 2024 (certainly before the end of January 2025) and the different crises around the world will all continue to have impacts. High interest rates, inflationary pressures, muted tax cuts and financial support for other nations in conflict all put costs into the spotlight for businesses. We anticipate refresh cycles will have a different feel to them, with lower volumes and demand rebalancing the maths and placing a higher emphasis on equipment versus running costs. We expect a few trends to continue. Customers will look harder outside their current incumbent supplier for their next print partner. In many cases they will look to reduce their total fleet numbers and will consider lower specified devices. The growth of more A4 versus A3 devices is likely to continue. Larger organisations with sizeable fleets will be placing more emphasis on sustainability plans and capabilities in their considerations for their next provider, and migration of print services to a cloud infrastructure, negating the need for on- premise server hardware will appear in more specification documents. www.xeretec.co.uk Markus Rex, Managing Director, SYNAXON Managed Services: The most important and relevant trend for 2024 will continue to be the move toward managed services as end-user organisations continue their digital transformation and look to offload tasks such as management of IT and cybersecurity to expert partners. We are seeing a steady rise in partners engaging with us on our predefined managed services offerings and this will unquestionably be the biggest area of opportunity for channel partners over the next year. The biggest technology trend will be the acceleration of generative AI, which is already permeating every corner of the market. While we are sure to see AI being built into the functionality of many systems and solutions, it’s hard to see it having a really big impact for SMBs and small businesses. The way AI is likely to be used in IT printing solutions is a good example. While it may well be used to manage workflows, optimise paper usage and streamline processes, these are capabilities that will only really benefit high volume users. Other technology trends will see increased use of 5G connectivity and of Wi-Fi 7, but these are really just evolutions of technologies we already have and while they will certainly attract interest and additional business, they won’t trigger any sudden upsurge in IT investment. While it’s not strictly ‘tech’, I believe we will see even more focus on sustainability, and this is extremely relevant for the print market. Major vendors are putting more focus on products with refillable ink systems and on low power consumption. They will also need to start making products from more sustainable materials. This is a growing, long-term trend and a very significant one. Beyond that, for most MSPs and reseller partners, 2024 will be more about driving higher value and resilience in IT systems and solutions for their customers. It will be about consolidation, regaining strength and returning to growth. https://synaxon-services.com Chris Bates, Business Unit Director, Print & Supplies, UK, TD SYNNEX: The two major trends that really matter for the channel are the move to managed services, and sustainability. These have been the biggest and most significant trends in the print channel over the last 12 months and we’d expect them to dominate strategic thinking and to keep growing and developing in 2024. On managed print, there is a clear desire on the part of end-user customers to hand the monitoring and maintenance of the print estate over to a third-party who can look after consumables replenishment and ensure that devices keep working. The need to drive down carbon emissions and move towards net zero will be an even higher priority in 2024. We are seeing more interest in ecoprinting, ink tank printers and energy- efficient devices and we’ll see more products with these features launched in 2024. Cybersecurity is also a big trend. The safety of printers and MFPs is now being considered and scrutinised much more and demonstrating that the device cannot be used as a back door through which cybercriminals can get onto the network, is going to be more important than ever. Finally, and this is very much a personal view, but I think there is a possibility that we’ll see a recovery Shaun Wilkinson Steve Hawkins The biggest technology trend will be the acceleration of generative AI, which is already permeating every corner of the market
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