NEWS
TechGirls top of the class for Konica Minolta’s Ada Lovelace Day
Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK) Ltd welcomed the next generation of technology specialists to its Girls in Tech event at the company’s Client Engagement Centre (CEC) in Houghton Regis in Bedfordshire. Held in partnership with TechGirls, Year Eight students from local schools marked Ada Lovelace Day, an international celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Ada Lovelace Day aims to increase the profile of women in STEM and, in doing so, create new role models who will encourage more girls into STEM careers, while supporting women already working in these sectors. As part of the TechGirls community, Konica Minolta has delivered workshops to
girls across the UK and this event aimed to support students who are about to decide their GCSE Options and encourage them to think about career paths towards STEM sectors. “The tech industry continues to face challenges with female representation, and this event is one way we can address this by showcasing the vibrant and dynamic opportunities within the sector,” said Gillian Nuttall, people and culture ESG partner at Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK). Students were tasked with creating a poster that promotes and inspires women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths. The posters were then designed and printed using Konica Minolta’s devices.
MPS providers must evolve and diversify – study
Managed print service (MPS) providers have a major opportunity to capitalise as businesses plan significant hardware and security investments to deal with the perfect storm of planned hardware refreshes, Windows 10 end-of-life, and the rush to embrace AI, a new study has said. Quocirca’s MPS Landscape Study 2024 shows that eight in 10 organisations plan to roll out AI-powered PCs across their business in the next 12 months, with 73% of these planning to refresh their print fleet at the same time. Accordingly, 48% of respondents expect to invest more in print and imaging over the coming year. “The market is having to accelerate hardware refreshes across the board as customers abandon age-related renewal cycles in favour of implementing new hardware performance capabilities,” said Louella Fernandes, CEO, Quocirca. “This presents an enormous opportunity for MPS providers who can broaden their offering to adjacent IT services and offer customers AI solutions and advanced services to support the hybrid work environment.” Further findings in the study include: l Print volumes are now at 55% of pre- pandemic levels l The top three technology investment areas
for the coming year are cybersecurity (66%), AI (64%) and cloud computing (56%) l The top three print management priorities for the coming year are: security (26%), hardware refresh (23%) and workflow solutions (23%) l Although 48% say they are very satisfied with their MPS provider, 65% of organisations are open to change, with 26% saying they will definitely switch provider at the end of their contract l Most organisations are seeking to standardise on single vendor fleets managed by one MPS provider. “As customer loyalty continues to weaken, with almost two-thirds of organisations considering switching suppliers, MPS providers need to strengthen and diversify their propositions to retain existing customers and attract new clients,” added Louella. “Incumbent MPS providers must ensure they have a strong profile during discussions about hardware refreshment to avoid losing out to competitors. “Our research shows that IT expertise is now the top selection factor for MPS providers, followed by cybersecurity expertise and workflow automation competency. As providers compete for contracts to undertake major hardware renewal programmes, they
Louella Fernandes ceo
quocirca.com
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