I’ve worked for vendors in the print industry for many years, starting out when I was a university graduate in the late 90s (yes, Prince, I did know how to party!).
Throughout my time in various office hardware marketing and product management roles with vendors, I’ve seen a lot of change. There have been the paperless office predictions and devices moving from analog to digital. Fast forward to more recent times and collaboration models have moved away from pre-pandemic huddle spaces towards remote and hybrid work—meaning that digital transformation, content digitization, and cloud solutions for document sharing are vital. With more documents existing in the cloud, the need for devices to deliver bulletproof levels of security has also increased.
But whatever happened to the paperless office? As the shift from shared workgroup or departmental devices to personal devices at home continues, overall net print volumes between home and office have decreased. However, remote working has increased printing at home for reading, editing, creative purposes, and to get away from the screen—even for those who were working 100% remotely pre-pandemic. This trend has been seen across all ages, not just the “boomers” out there (as my kids call them).
The pandemic has required accelerated change for all businesses and the products they offer beyond what I could have imagined, and the change to remote and hybrid working looks set to continue. In a time when not only cloud connectivity and security are a big requirement for devices, product reliability and ease of use are more important than ever for remote users who may be working with personal devices for the first time. There is a continued and possibly even greater need for independent expert lab testing, accreditation, and awards to pinpoint the best devices available to meet these changing needs.
I’m delighted to join the team here at Keypoint Intelligence as a Technical Editor for office hardware. In my career, I’ve made it a habit to pinpoint key specifications to meet the needs of changing markets and I understand how to convert those specifications into clearly defined value for customers. I look forward to using that experience to ensure our Lab Test Reports deliver the facts as well as a product’s value proposition for today’s market.
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