Ricoh Europe Calls on Businesses to Improve Security of Business Crucial Document Processes
Nov 08, 2011 Ricoh Europe, London – Ricoh Europe has welcomed new research by analysts Quocirca* which reveals that businesses are taking unnecessary risks by employing a fragmented approach to document security. According to the research, a significant 70 per cent of businesses surveyed have suffered one or more accidental printing-related data breaches but only 15 per cent are concerned about data loss through printers or multi-functional products.
The findings align with a study commissioned by Ricoh where businesses across Europe rated security as a top priority** (67 per cent) to improve their business critical document processes, but just 43 per cent are able to restrict access to all electronic confidential business critical documents. It also revealed that just 39 per cent of businesses can audit all their business critical documents, meaning more than half do not know who is accessing, editing, printing or copying all their valuable information. The situation is most significant in the Nordics and France, where only one in three organisations are able to audit all business critical documents.
Quocirca encourages organisations to include print security within a wider information security strategy. Analyst, Louella Fernandes said, “Our research shows that an organisation’s document efficiency and security can only be as strong as its weakest link. Given the continued importance of document management among businesses, the issue of print security can no longer be overlooked. Print security demands a comprehensive approach, combining education, policy, and technology, and businesses should look for a print service provider with strong security credentials to entrust with their business critical information.”
The view is supported by Ricoh, with Carsten Bruhn Executive Vice President, Ricoh Europe, saying: “The key to managing the far-reaching impacts of business critical document processes is to ensure that there is a full end-to-end review across the organisation. Reviewing knowledge sharing, productivity and security as isolated components will not result in the optimum improvements inside European businesses. It is essential to look at them together, and review the processes, people and technology in combination.
“Just as having a relaxed approach to document security can have far-reaching negative impacts for a business, optimising business critical document processes with the right tools and training can result in a wide range of benefits beyond security. With information able to flow more easily around an organisation, businesses will enjoy improved efficiency, flexibility, employee productivity and client service – with the peace of mind that their information is secure.”
The Ricoh Process Efficiency Index can be downloaded at http://www.ricoh-europe.com/thoughtleadership. Businesses can also take part in an online poll to reveal the biggest concerns about their own document security processes at http://www.ricoh-europe.com/thoughtleadership, or find out more about security at http://www.ricoh-europe.com/securitymatters.
* Closing the print security gap, October 2011, Quocirca – http://www.quocirca.com/reports/624/closing-the-print-security-gap
** Ricoh Process Efficiency Index, June 2011, conducted by Coleman Parkes Research – http://www.ricoh-europe.com/thoughtleadership
About Ricoh
RicohCompany, Ltd. (Ricoh Company) is a Fortune Global 500 company specialising in technology and services that transform high volume, document intensive business processes into more efficient ones. This is achieved through Ricoh’s expertise in Managed Document Services, Production Printing, Office Solutions and IT Services. By working with Ricoh, businesses can streamline the way they work, become more efficient and profitable, and share knowledge more effectively within their organisations. With a global workforce of 109,014, Ricoh operates in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, China and Japan.
Ricoh Europe Holdings Plc is a public limited company and the EMEA headquarters of Ricoh Company with operations located in London, United Kingdom and Amstelveen, the Netherlands. In the fiscal year ended 31 March 2011, revenues from Ricoh's EMEA operations totalled JPY413.9 billion (approx €3.5 billion based on the US Federal Reserve exchange rate 31 March 2011). Ricoh group’s worldwide sales totalled JPY1,942 billion (approx €16.4 billion based on the US Federal Reserve exchange rate 31 March 2011).
About the Ricoh Process Efficiency Index.
The Ricoh Process Efficiency Index was conducted by independent research firm, Coleman Parkes, and commissioned by Ricoh Europe. Survey respondents held full responsibility for managing the processes surrounding the critical business documents inside their organisations and were employed within: Financial/accounting, sales, HR or payroll, customer or client information, legal, warehouse and supply chain. The research consisted of 458 telephone surveys within large (1000+ employee) organisations, located in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, The Nordics (Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark), Spain, Switzerland and the UK. The organisations are based within the education, legal, utilities, healthcare, manufacturing and financial services sectors. Qualitative interviews were also completed with European CIOs to gain further commentary about their business critical document processes.
