HP Inc. released its Workflow Wakeup Report on March 18, 2026, surveying 200 IT Decision Makers and 600 knowledge workers across Indian small and medium businesses. The findings are stark: despite growing cybersecurity awareness at the boardroom level, print security remains a critical blind spot — with more than half of SMBs actively deprioritising it.
Table of Contents
HP Workflow Wakeup Report: Key Findings at a Glance
| Stat | Finding |
|---|---|
| 51% | Say print security is a low priority in cybersecurity strategy |
| 52% | See users trying to bypass print rules or restrictions |
| 52% | Worry existing document processes could lead to a data or privacy issue |
| 49% | Lack visibility into who prints what and where |
| 75% | Knowledge workers assume office network printers are already secure |
| 48% | Don’t think of printers as a security threat at all |
| 71% | Acknowledge print security needs improvement |
| 88% | Smart printing adopters say it made their organisation more secure |
The Contradiction at the Heart of SMB Print Security
The most revealing tension in the data isn’t that SMBs deprioritise print security — it’s that 71% simultaneously acknowledge it needs improvement. That gap between awareness and action is where breaches happen. Printers in a modern office aren’t peripheral devices; they’re connected endpoints on the same network as laptops, cloud storage, and financial systems. An unsecured printer is essentially an unlocked side door.
The specific concerns SMBs flagged tell a familiar story: connected printer cybersecurity risks, employees mishandling sensitive printed material, unauthorized access to print queues, and cloud vulnerabilities from scanned documents. These aren’t hypothetical attack vectors — they’re documented methods used in corporate data exfiltration, now trickling down to smaller businesses as threat actors follow the path of least resistance.
The assumption problem is equally telling. Three in four knowledge workers simply presume their office printers are secure by virtue of being on the company network. That default trust, combined with 49% having no visibility into print activity, creates an environment where policy violations go undetected.
Smart Printing Closes the Gap — But Adoption Lags
The data does offer a clear path forward. Among SMBs that have already adopted smart printing technology, 88% report improved security posture. The three most cited benefits are visibility into printing activity across users and locations (90%), meeting compliance and security standards (85%), and more effective enforcement of print rules (83%). The technology exists; the gap is adoption.
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FAQs
How many Indian SMBs were surveyed for the HP Workflow Wakeup Report?
HP surveyed 200 IT Decision Makers and 600 knowledge workers from Indian SMBs with 50 to 1,000 employees, conducted by Edelman in August 2025.
What is smart printing and how does it improve security?
Smart printing adds visibility, access controls, and policy enforcement to printer fleets — 88% of SMBs that adopted it reported being more secure as a result.
