Despite the popularity of BYOD and Cloud, the office is no closer to being paperless than it was a few years ago.
Instead, Oki A/NZ marketing manager, Antonio Leone, is seeing, in some instances, is a reduction of paper usage.
“This is in light of more advanced document management solutions, Cloud storage, duplex printing and data consumption via smart/mobile devices,” he said.
Leone adds that the term “paperless office” itself can be misleading, as it implies a “total absence of paper.”
“If this was the goal, we’re not there yet,” he said.
Something tangible
As for what is stopping the office from going all digital, Leone said employees still need to find and have access to information quickly.
“Moving from paper filing to electronic filing has not taken away this need, hence there is still a heavy reliance on printed information,” he said.
As old habits tend to die hard, Leone said some people feel more comfortable if they can review and/or consume data and documents in printed rather than electronic form, as it provides “more tangibility.”
“In some sectors, including medical, legal and finance, there's a real need for printed documents over electronic ones,” he said.
Patrick Budmar covers consumer and enterprise technology breaking news for IDG Communications. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_budmar.