The managed print services (MPS) market has weathered significant disruption over the past five years from COVID-19 to evolving workplace models, and relentless cost pressures which have reshaped the industry. Yet, as we step into 2026, new opportunities and innovations are emerging that promise to redefine the landscape. Here are the key trends and challenges shaping the year ahead.
Hybrid work continues to evolve. Toward the end of 2025, we saw signs of increased print volumes as some large organisations began encouraging employees back to the office. Notable brands like Santander, BT, PWC, Morrisons and John Lewis have revised their working policies, and even Ikea extended its office days from 8 to 12 per month.
However, this shift isn’t universal. In many sectors, office occupancy remains low—often around 30% on any given day. The challenge for businesses is balancing the benefits of in-office collaboration (team spirit, creativity, and reduced isolation) with employee well-being and retention. Interestingly, 70% of job applicants in recent interviews expressed a preference for roles with some office presence, signalling that hybrid work will remain a critical factor in talent strategy.
Providers are responding to this changing landscape by combining security, productivity, and sustainability into integrated solutions. Customers are looking for suppliers who can use data to optimise their print estate based on actual usage patterns across their organisations.
Cloud print solutions are accelerating, but adoption varies widely by industry and geography. Private-sector organisations are moving faster than public-sector counterparts, and regional differences are stark, while the U.S. seems to lead the way, markets like Italy remain largely on-premise and the UK sits somewhere in the middle.
Another shift is in contracting models: as print fleets shrink, software-only renewals are increasing, often with shorter contract terms. This trend underscores the need for flexibility and agility in service offerings.
Despite short-term resilience, the long-term trend of declining print volumes persists—especially among larger customers. In conversation with our partners, they anticipate volumes dropping by 20–50% over the next five years. Fierce margin pressure is driving consolidation, with vendors forming partnerships and sharing resources.
The silver lining? Innovation. Over the past year, partners have invested in new sales models and service efficiencies, leveraging remote diagnostics and smarter replacement strategies to stay competitive.
Diversification is no longer optional, it’s essential. Many MPS providers are expanding into adjacent areas like IT support, logistics, and cybersecurity. Document automation and enterprise content management (ECM) stand out as natural extensions of the core business.
The real game-changer? Data. Partners are increasingly using print data to identify inefficiencies and propose automation solutions. This approach not only strengthens customer relationships but also drives revenue growth. For most customers staff costs are at least 100x more than the print costs. By using customer print data, partners can help identify manual processes to eliminate for their customers. And the added benefit is that solutions such as ECM can generate up to six times the revenue of equivalent print processes and offer long-term contracts lasting 10–15 years.
2026 will be a year of transformation for the MPS industry. Success will hinge on embracing hybrid work realities, accelerating cloud adoption, navigating volume and margin pressures, and leveraging data to deliver value-added solutions. Those who adapt quickly and innovate boldly will not only survive but thrive in this evolving market.
Take a look at our data-driven solutions for Managed Print, and if you want to find our more please get in touch.
Be the first to receive Intuitive updates on new product announcements, sales, marketing and technical updates. Get an inside look at how our business is growing, and who knows, you might even find a special reward one day!
