1. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming part that performs an image forming operation; a higher-order component that sends an image forming request to perform the image forming operation of said image forming part; and a control part that controls said image forming part based on the image forming request received from said higher-order component, wherein said control part controls said image forming part to perform a deactivation standby operation to stand by for a predetermined time while said image forming part is continuously set in an operating state after said image forming part completed the image forming operation, without querying said higher-order component about an image forming operation to be performed subsequently.