Overview of the OPM Service and the Methodology
What is OPM?
Office Print Monitor is a strategic analysis service from Lyra Research that helps clients understand real-world print-volume trends for copiers, printers, and MFPs in corporate environments. OPM tracks daily usage patterns by printer/copier model from a panel of corporate users and identifies long-term trends for color growth, page volume, page coverage, device reliability, and cost per page.

How is the data gathered? (What is the methodology?)
Data is gathered by PrintFleet Inc., using its Optimizer Plus software, which captures printer usage data and is installed in thousands of customers' networks in corporate settings. Data is collected directly from each device's management information base (MIB). Lyra Research then analyzes this PrintFleet data, correlates it to our internal printer market databases and forecasts, and creates trend analyses for OPM clients.

For more information about the OPM Panel click on the FAQ link

What is your relationship with PrintFleet?
Through our partnership, PrintFleet supplies Lyra Research with raw data collected via the PrintFleet tracking software for corporate fleets of installed printers, copiers, and MFPs. Lyra then uses that data to track trends and provide insights and analysis in the OPM.

Panel Statistics
How big is the panel and what are its characteristics?
As of January 2010, the panel consists of more than 150,000 printers and MFPs in more than 7,000 corporations throughout North America. The panel grows each month.

Is the panel representative?
In some ways—such as the types of devices installed and their levels of output—the panel corresponds with the trends in the North American market, as measured by Lyra's own independently developed hardware and supplies forecasts. The panel sample does not, however, match U.S. Census data in terms of company size distribution or vertical market share, nor is the panel representative of North American brand share (see figures below).

Available Data
How far back does the data go?
Lyra and PrintFleet began their relationship in 2007, and data for some companies and their devices is available starting from as far back as that year. Data does not go as far back for companies that have been added to the panel more recently.

Do you track pages printed in color?
Yes. Color pages printed from color machines, as well as monochrome pages printed from color (and monochrome) machines can be identified.

Can you monitor page coverage?
Yes. We can monitor page coverage for many devices in the panel.

Does the service have cost-per-page information?
We can provide cost-per-page estimates on an inquiry basis.

Are printing applications monitored?
At this time, printing applications are not monitored.

Are scanned pages captured if they are not printed?
At this time, scanned pages are not available.

Is the detail of copy/fax/print pages available?
For many multifunction machines, including both printer-based MFPs and traditional copiers, data regarding print, copy, and fax page-volume is available.

What is the panel make-up in terms of device technology and printers versus MFPs?
The bulk of the devices in the panel are laser machines. However, ink jet devices—based on both solid and liquid ink—are also installed, as are impact machines and thermal hardware (see figure below).