PRINTITRESELLER.UK 39 SCANNERS more likely to be used with another vendor’s software than its own solutions. Moving that connectivity ratio in Canon’s favour is a big priority for the company. Channel education programme Canon has created a channel education programme highlighting the opportunities in dedicated scanner sales for MFP partners. Organ points out that while MFP resellers used to be concerned about cannibalising their MFP MIF with scanner sales, changes in print and scan requirements since the pandemic, combined with organisations’ digital transformation ambitions, have strengthened the case for dedicated scan devices as supplements to MFPs. “I think people now look at their MFP estates and say: ‘If I’m consolidating the number of MFPs I’ve got, do I need to consider increasing the number of scanners to run alongside the MFP for bespoke applications?’,” he said. Key strengths One of the key strengths of Canon’s scanner offering is the ability to feed data directly into software applications. “The resounding feedback we get is that people want processes simplified, which we’re trying to do with direct throughput and pre-configured workflows,” explained Organ. “We are already seeing an increase in scanners sold as part of a balanced deployment and that is being driven by our desire to increase connectivity with software.” In this context, Organ points out that: n Therefore (available on-premise or in the cloud), in addition to its core document management features, has extensive capabilities for direct capture, e-forms and a workflow engine for streamlining processes; n The scan capabilities of uniFLOW output management software enable it to act as an on-ramp into IM systems, as well as being the only print management system that works fully in a zero trust environment hosted in a UK datacentre; and n The OCR component of IRIS data capture technology can now be integrated into the scanning element of uniFLOW. Another of Canon’s strengths is the breadth of its offering, from personal/mobile scanning to mid-range production scanning where it has around 35 per cent market share (compared to a 12 per cent market share of the overall scanner market). According to Organ, this diversity enables resellers to meet a range of customer needs and address growth areas. “With COVID, there was a real drive around personalised utilisation of scanners, and we are seeing that pick back up. Market projections show that there has been a slight decline in the overall scanner market, driven by weaker demand in the healthcare and government sectors, but the personal market is going up and we’re seeing good growth in sales of our P208/P215 mobile scanners,” he said. Targeting MSPs As well as increasing scanner and software sales through existing channels, Organ is aiming to extend Canon’s reach in the IT/MSP channel. “I have already taken on some specialist software-only partners that have contracts purely to sell our software and we are now looking to on-board more. There’s also an intention to broaden our reach into the IT VAR space. We have a lot of those relationships already, and a number of large organisations already transact with us, but we’re serious about growing our IM business with them over the mid-term,” he concluded. www.canon.co.uk Canon held its Make It Together UK & Ireland Partner Conference 2023 in June. Diversification was one of the key themes running through the event – but not diversification into alternative markets. Instead, Canon indirect channel has its sights on maintaining a core focus around the document lifecycle and improving the processes around that. In practice, this means leveraging the company’s strengths and capabilities in printers/MFPs, production printers, scanners and software. The latter includes Canon’s own (or part-owned) products – Therefore (document management), IRIS (capture) and uniFLOW (print and scan management) – which tend to be sold through specialist resellers, as well as third-party software that the Canon DIMS team is expert at integrating with Canon devices. At a time when print volumes are only 70-80 per cent of pre-COVID levels, Gary Organ, Indirect Sales Manager for Software & Scan Technology at Canon said that scanners and software are a big part of Canon’s UK growth strategy. “We’re really looking to grow in the UK market, and we've put a lot of emphasis on scan technology. I look after software for our indirect channels, with an oversight of our scanner team, and one of the things we’re looking to do is bring those two elements together to create a stronger connection between standalone scanning and applications that drive digital transformation, such as workflow technology, storage and document management. That’s our main focus,” he explained. “We have two approaches. We try and create connectivity between our scan technology and our software, because obviously that’s more fruitful for us as an organisation, and supplementary to that we work with third-party solutions. Some of the biggest opportunities we’ve worked on involve integrating our scanners with systems integrators’ software.” Indeed, today Canon scanners are One of the key themes running through Canon’s 2023 Make It Together UK & Ireland Partner Conference was diversification Make It Together We’re really looking to grow in the UK market, and we’ve put a lot of emphasis on scan technology
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