Dubai, UAE, May 17, 2016:   In an Epson study on the state of printing in the workplace conducted by market research company Kantar AMRB, 95% of respondents in UAE and KSA claim that printers are vital in terms of helping them to effectively work. This is in line with a similar study Epson did in Europe where 77% of respondents stated that printers were important in terms of helping them work more productively, with an overwhelming majority (83%) felt a “paperless office is unrealistic”. 

In addition to printers, significant proportion of organizations in UAE and KSA also claim that desktops (78%), laptops (67%) and scanners (54%) are vital for working effectively. 78% of organizations also believe that ‘there is more chance of making errors editing an electronic document than editing a print out’.

Of the 150 organizations that took part in the study, almost all claim to have printers (99%) and claim to be using it (98%). Amongst the organizations using printers, almost all (98%) use printers at least once in a day, which is seen to be consistent in both countries and across industries and all sizes of organizations. On an average, organizations print around 46 pages in a typical day. The most popular item printed are ‘Reports / brochures’ (60%), closely followed by ‘Emails’ (58%) and ‘Email attachments’ (56%).

95% of the organizations claim a ban on printing would impact their productivity, with 68% claiming it would do so ‘Significantly’. The mean impact on productivity is estimated to be 32% (conservatively about 1.5 days each week).

Khalil El Dalu, General Manger, Epson Middle East, says, “There are still many people who want to read reports in print, make corrections on printed copy rather than view it on a screen, hold a brochure or a leaflet, and therefore printers are still an important consideration for IT buyers in companies. In our study, the concept of the ‘paperless office’ is dismissed by about 3 in 4 (74%) organizations in UAE. 9 in 10 organizations in KSA also claim to use printers several times a day. We are committed to helping companies to meet their printing needs in a cost effective manner with  printing solutions like Epson ITS and WorkForce Pro RIPS.”

Epson ITS printers, have large, refillable ink tanks instead of cartridges and ensure ultra-low cost per page, with new models like 4-in-1 L655 delivering hassle-free results, enabling to print 11,000 pages with the ink included in the box.  Epson’s WorkForce Pro RIPS can deliver up to 75,000 printed pages in both black and colour before the ink needs to be replaced. 

Sukhdev Singh, Vice-President, Kantar AMRB, added: “Organizations today need printing solutions that are not only cost effective, but are easy to manage, fast, better quality and energy efficient. Need for secure or encrypted printing, particularly in case of large workplaces where personal printers are usually not available, is leading to continuous development in printing solutions.”