Canon expands office portfolio with i-SENSYS, i-SENSYS X models

Issued by Clockwork Media for Canon
Johannesburg, 25 Jan 2024

Canon upgrades i-SENSYS and i-SENSYS X printers.

oday, Canon Europe announces that it is expanding its portfolio by launching upgraded versions of its bestselling i-SENSYS and i-SENSYS X printers, with the addition of six new A4 devices.

The expanded range offers proven reliability and easy serviceability, utilising advanced technology from the widest hardware, software and solutions portfolio in the market. The new i-SENSYS and i-SENSYS X printers will offer additional benefits for modern businesses through a variety of improved features, including faster scan speeds, lower energy consumption, easier-to-use interfaces and enhanced security features.

In addition, the refreshed i-SENSYS X range comes with features designed to help you manage your documents and information, including compatibility with Canon’s award-winning uniFLOW Online, an advanced secure print and scan solution allowing organisations to manage their entire print environment through the cloud.

The new devices strengthen the portfolio of hardware that sit at the heart of Canon’s Digital Transformation Services ecosystem, enabling customers to take their digital transformation strategy to the next level.

Built with sustainability in mind

The i-SENSYS and i-SENSYS X range is part of Canon’s award-winning A4 laser line-up that was recently recognised by Keypoint Intelligence as the Most Energy Efficient Laser A4 Brand, 2023-2025.[1] The new refreshed range builds on this accolade with a lower TEC compared to previous models of up to 0.39kwH, and the ability to apply toner at lower temperatures to further reduce energy use.

Premium security features

The enhanced i-SENSYS and i-SENSYS X models also come equipped with robust security capabilities to help ensure the confidentiality of information processed. The new devices have the latest firmware pre-installed to enhance document security, while future firmware updates will be available to automatically download – improving organisations’ defences against potential security threats.

Peak performance, lasting quality

With its user-friendly display settings and exceptional print quality, the new i-SENSYS and i-SENSYS X devices are ideal for busy working environments. Organisations will also benefit from an average warm-up time of less than four seconds, and scan speeds of up to 190 images per minute (ipm). Scanning performance is also a highlight, with 30% improved document reading time compared to previous models.

Yenayena Ngidi, Workspace Product Manager at Canon, said: “Today’s modern businesses have to be smart. They must be secure and efficient while looking carefully at how they can improve their own sustainability efforts.

“This new range fits perfectly into our comprehensive portfolio – offering our customers devices that are market leading and energy efficient. With high performance speeds, strong security credentials and premium quality, the i-SENSYS and i-SENSYS X models empower businesses to make their operations smarter.”

Canon uniFLOW Online Earns Another BLI Pick Award from Keypoint Intelligence
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Software

2024

Fairfield, NJ – Keypoint Intelligence, the leading market research firm and independent evaluator of print and smart technology hardware, software, and services, announces that Canon uniFLOW Online has won a Buyers Lab (BLI) 2024 Pick Award for Outstanding Cloud Output Management Solution.

Now with its sixth consecutive win from Keypoint Intelligence, Canon uniFLOW Online continues to show why it still leads the pack with each update made available to customers. The solution regularly builds upon its features that enable users to handle scan, print, and copy activities on an easy-to-use interface—and in a secure manner. Being a cloud-based solution, print jobs can therefore be sent from anywhere, adding to its convenience factor. There is also no need to support Canon uniFLOW Online on local servers, which really benefits IT teams that are bogged down with other tasks.

“Almost four years after the COVID-19 pandemic altered the workplace in the blink of an eye, remote and hybrid work is still being adopted by many industries around the globe,” said Keith Haas, Solutions Analyst in Keypoint Intelligence’s Workplace Group, reflecting on why Canon uniFLOW Online remains a best-in-class cloud solution. “As we are all collectively adapting to new ways of working, each and every day seemingly, this system keeps improving on itself to help workers keep on top of document workflows and activities, not to mention management tasks handled by administrators.”

Analysts at Keypoint Intelligence were also impressed with Canon uniFLOW Online’s overall approach to security, as the solution is designed with organizations that have adopted zero trust environments in mind. Print job information is stored right in the cloud, making it simple to release print jobs on MEAP/AddOn devices right from mobile devices. In addition, flexible login options enable users to access Canon uniFLOW Online with various credentials, whether they have a PIN code or an ID card. The solution even generates hard-to-guess PIN and card registration codes and bans codes that could otherwise be easily guessed, ensuring that all information is safe.

“Our integrated portfolio of print and information management solutions plays a vital part in helping our customers work smarter and faster in today’s evolving workplace,” said Marc Bory, EMEA Vice President of Digital Printing & Solutions Marketing & Innovation at Canon Europe. “Since it arrived on the market eight years ago, Canon uniFLOW Online has become a key element of our offering—and through the scalability and flexibility of the cloud, it is enabling thousands of businesses to print, digitize and process documents wherever their employees may be working. We are delighted that it has been recognized with a Pick Award from Keypoint Intelligence for the sixth consecutive year as an Outstanding Cloud Output Management Solution.”

About Keypoint Intelligence

For over 60 years, clients in the digital imaging industry have relied on Keypoint Intelligence for independent hands-on testing, lab data, and extensive market research to drive their product and sales success. Keypoint Intelligence has been recognized as the industry’s most trusted resource for unbiased information, analysis, and awards due to decades of analyst experience. Customers have harnessed this mission-critical knowledge for strategic decision-making, daily sales enablement, and operational excellence to improve business goals and increase bottom lines. With a central focus on clients, Keypoint Intelligence continues to evolve as the industry changes by expanding offerings and updating methods, while intimately understanding and serving manufacturers’, channels’, and their customers’ transformation in the digital printing and imaging sector.

About BLI Smart Workplace Software Pick Awards

Buyers Lab Software Picks stand alone in the industry and are hard-earned awards as they are based on rigorous testing, including evaluation of key attributes such as features, usability, and value. Each product that passes its Keypoint Intelligence lab test earns a Platinum, Gold, Silver, or Bronze rating, with the best performers qualifying as Pick contenders.

Data protection weak spots businesses must address

By Tracy Burrows for Canon

Many South African businesses – particularly SMEs – are failing to properly protect sensitive data, putting them at risk of data theft, leaks and penalties.

This is according to Ian Nel, Strategic Planning and Programs Director, Canon South Africa, who says organisations are not gathering, storing or managing sensitive data adequately.

“We see data being put at risk all the time,” he says. “The most common threat is phishing attacks, but data can also be leaked or stolen due to non-compliant processes, a lack of awareness on the part of staff, or through pure negligence.”

Nel notes that sensitive data comprises more than documents – it also includes photos, scans, videos and other content. “It all needs to be managed securely and in compliance with the POPI Act,” he says.

Common vulnerabilities

Nel says many organisations and individuals fail to properly secure their home and office WiFi networks, have weak passwords or re-use passwords across multiple accounts.

“Having outdated software on systems also makes it easier for cyber criminals,” he says.

Nel adds that physical security is often overlooked too: “Organisations have to make sure computers are locked and sensitive documents aren’t exposed.”

Another often neglected vulnerability arises in printing and scanning, he says. “In the office automation industry, we often see cases where people use a multifunction printer to scan sensitive information such as a credit application for a bank. They scan their ID and financial information, unaware that the device they are using doesn’t encrypt or delete the file after it’s scanned, so it remains on the hard drive. Many people are not aware that the data can be retained on the device.”

Bringing in cyber security best practice

He says businesses should have the benefit of encryption and deletion of information on multifunction printers, avoiding the risk of data being exposed through these devices. “For Canon, data privacy is crucial, so we provide software and information management solutions to control data in a structured way, with features such as encryption and password protection. When we engage with our clients, we educate and train them to address these vulnerabilities and ensure cyber security best practice. This includes proper network security, firewalls, intrusion detection, encryption protocols and multi-factor authentication.”

Best practices should also include having a proper incident response plan in place to address any breaches, he advises.

He adds: “Organisations also need to start looking at policies and procedures to prevent staff from putting sensitive company information into generative AI environments that could put data at risk. They can’t just assume these new tools and environments are safe and secure.”

CMS to enhance compliance

Nel believes many organisations approach POPIA compliance as a ‘tick box exercise’; however, he warns that responsible data handling should be a top priority. “You have to manage people’s personal and sensitive information responsibly, ethically and in a transparent way,” he says.

He points to content management systems as a key enabler of better data protection. “In a content management system, data is safer than in a standard Windows environment. When you create a document in a content management environment, metadata can be attached to it to protect it from being viewed, to set document sensitivity levels and ensure that only the authorised people can see the data. Content management systems also offer full audit trails and security measures so organisations can determine when content was viewed, exported, downloaded or mailed,” he says.

“Organisations can now get proper cloud-based content management systems that are very secure, at a reasonable cost.”

He notes: “Over and above getting a new content management system, it is important to implement best practices to help manage and reduce the risk. These include having regular data audits to identify and classify sensitive data; encrypting sensitive data and invoices; and backing up data regularly. Organisations should have an inventory or register of their information assets, so they know what type of data is stored and where it is stored. They should also have proper records of processing activities and privacy impact assessments.”

Nel says: “The regulator is clamping down quite a lot on data privacy, and one of the key elements is privacy impact assessments.”

To make it easier to be compliant, organisations can set up electronic forms that ask the right questions and are automatically forwarded to the right people through the right workflows.

Nel says: “Some multifunctional printers’ content management systems have rapid development tools to make it easier for organisations to build compliant processes. For example, they may automatically require consent, and then go to a proper repository with the correct metadata, policies, procedures and workflows in place. As the business changes, you need the type of solutions that change with your needs, which is why our rapid development tools allow organisations to easily adapt the process. Canon and its partners are working very hard to support better data security and protection for our customers.”

Why choose genuine Canon laser printer cartridges

Some things are made for each other. Canon toner is designed to work seamlessly with Canon printers to provide you with the fast fusing performance and high quality print you expect. Canon toner technology ensures uncompromised results. For beautiful, long lasting print quality, trust Canon engineered toner.

Keep your printer running with high quality prints

Original Canon all-in-one cartridges guarantee superior print quality. They contain all the essential print elements that have a defined life, so when you replace your all-in-one cartridge your machine is virtually as good as new.

Quality assurance

With original Canon cartridges you get the reassurance that each cartridge will provide exceptional performance. Refilled cartridges may not print to the same standard as new Canon cartridges because its internal components may be partially or fully worn out.

Manufacturing and assembling toner cartridges is a complex procedure involving several hundred processes. However Canon has developed a single automated production system which uses state-of-the-art production technology to create the high quality cartridges that our customers expect.

Avoid unsightly lines

The photosensitive drum unit is one of the most sensitive imaging components in the printer. New Canon cartridges ensure that toner does not accumulate on the drum and the fixing roller. This avoids unsightly lines, blurring or grey backgrounds and damage your printer. Original Canon toner guarantees the proper function of the drum unit, resulting in crisp, clean documents very time.

Cleaner workspace

Canon’s exclusive roller-charging technology ensures ozone free emissions. This clean technology is not harmful to human health or the environment and even makes the cartridge more compact as fewer parts are required. In addition all Canon toner and cartridges are non-hazardous. This means that our cartridges do not require special treatment or processing.

Easy to recycle

Genuine cartridges can be recycled using Canon’s no waste to landfill recycling programme. To find out more about the programme, or to request a free return form, visit our Cartridge Recycling page.

Be careful of counterfeit cartridges

Counterfeit Canon cartridges are packaged to appear as though they have been manufactured by Canon or with the consent of Canon but they have not. The manufacture and sale of counterfeit Canon cartridges is illegal. Canon works with customs, police and trading standards authorities to remove counterfeit Canon cartridges from the market and bring those responsible for their manufacture and sale to justice.

The print capacity of counterfeit cartridges that Canon has obtained and tested, ranges from 28% to 69% compared to original Canon cartridges.

Genuine toner cartridges make the difference

Allion Co., Ltd., an external verification agency, conducted tests to determine the difference in print quality between genuine Canon toner cartridges and third party cartridges. The report verifies the benefit of genuine Canon cartridges.

How to recognise genuine toner cartridges

When buying a Canon cartridge always look out for the hologram, with its colour change technology, and the ‘Genuine’ Canon logo on the outside of the package. Then you can be certain that you’ll get the very best print quality from your Canon printer, fax machine or multifunctional device. The phrase “for use in Canon products” does not mean it’s an original Canon cartridge.

Page yield

When selecting a cartridge you look at pricing, features, performance, quality and reliability. Of course, the print cost per page for different models is equally important. Page yield provides you with a precise measurement of how many pages a toner cartridge can print.

The page yield of many of Canon all-in-one toner cartridges used in monochrome devices has been measured according to strict ISO (International Organization for Standardization) procedures. The ISO 19752 Standard describes the method for the determination of toner yield for monochromatic electro photographic printers and multi-function devices that contain printer components. 

The page yield of these cartridges is measured under strictly defined circumstances. The sample test sheet shown here has been the standard for page yield measurements of our monochrome toner cartridges from 2002. By using original Canon toner cartridges you can be sure that your cartridge will deliver the number of prints promised by Canon.

Making a lasting impression

Why emotions should be at the heart of data-driven marketing


Emotional connection is underrated

Making a good “first impression” is crucial to starting a new relationship positively. Within a fraction of a second, our brains decide how to respond to that first communication from someone we don’t know. So brands need to get customer communications right first time. If a consumer associates a brand with a negative interaction, it’ll be a challenge to change their mind.

Modern consumers want to feel recognised. They want to feel that a brand knows them, their interests and their needs and communicates with them accordingly as individuals. And it’s easy enough to access that information. Whenever someone interacts with a brand online, they leave behind a trail of personal data which helps us to understand how they operate.

As Colin Strong, Head of Behavioural Science at Ipsos, explored at Canon’s Future Promotion Forum in 2020, we’re all aware that the world is becoming more “datafied”, so it’s not the lack of data available that’s acting as a roadblock. However, brands can often struggle to understand how to best interpret data. So in a world where technology and data are seemingly the driving force behind marketing campaigns, how can brands make sure they get consumers’ attention and connect with them as individuals, not just as sales leads? The answer lies in making data-driven marketing more human.

Customers first. Data second.

Data provides marketers with a huge opportunity to gain real insights into consumers, but it does have its limitations if you don’t use it correctly. Yes, technology can help to gather data and report on patterns, but it can’t form an understanding of what the data might represent. That’s where human intervention is required.

In an interview with Print Power, Diana Lucaci, founder of neuroscience research firm True Impact, summed up why introducing the human element into your marketing is important: “Our paradigm has shifted: customers are more than data, they are human. If you’re trying to create a message that’s going to be loved in that first second, you need to understand how the brain works and how to elicit that emotion from the get-go.”

So to maximise impact and enhance a customer’s experience, it’s essential to interpret data to get to know the person behind it because, ultimately, each consumer will respond differently to a brand’s marketing efforts.

Looking beyond digital communications

With so much noise already across digital marketing channels, brands are looking for new ways to target their customers. And, although print can be interpreted as an old-fashioned medium, many brands are returning to this trusted form of communication to cut through, connect and inspire their customers.

Print doesn’t replace digital; it enhances it, just as digital enhances print. Its effectiveness is built on its ability to make consumers feel valued in a way that a digital communication rarely does. As we discussed in our recent article on print’s power of touch, print’s physical nature can stimulate the brain and spark an emotional reaction. Why? Because our emotions are linked to our senses and printed direct mail engages more senses than a simple digital e-shot.

And when print is combined with customer data to create a piece that is tailored to the recipient, that person feels more connected to the brand because time has been taken to understand the individual’s preferences and send a direct mail that is both relevant and timely. By doing so, the brand is enhancing the customer experience which, in turn, will boost recall and improve marketing ROI.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to put emotions at the heart of your data-driven marketing, watch Colin Strong’s Future Promotion Forum talk here.

Inkjet: the technology to secure the future of your business

Drive success with inkjet


The flexible solution for commercial printers

In response to diverse customer needs, greater demands for shorter print runs and the increase in online ordering (accelerated by the pandemic), many commercial printers are looking for ways to become more flexible.

Inkjet development has reached a level of maturity that allows commercial printers to achieve high productivity, cost-efficiency and return on investment without having to compromise on quality, which is now on a par with offset and digital electrophotography.

Offset printers are able to transition their work or large parts of their work to a more adaptable, effective and efficient digital print production with the capability to grow into new added value services in the future.

Commercial printers who have invested in inkjet are seeing the benefits of the technology and the opportunities it presents. Enabling them to achieve high production flexibility and productivity, it’s a strong investment option for commercial printers reviewing their business plans and exploring the services they can expand into.

The advantages of inkjet

With continuous developments to the technology – around print heads, inks and media – inkjet has proved itself as a production printing technology for now and the future. Here’s why:

  • Quality – Historically, inkjet suffered from perceptions of poor/inconsistent quality, but it can now reliably match the quality of offset on both standard offset coated and uncoated papers.
  • Productivity – High-speed inkjet now closes the productivity gap between offset and digital electrophotography, reducing time to market and ensuring consistent and repeatable quality without the need for highly skilled operators.
  • Added value – Using inkjet technology, commercial printers can extend their product offering and target prospective customers with new high-value applications that integrate highly personalised content.
  • Agility – Continuous advancements in end-to-end digital printing workflows, from job onboarding through to finished output, ensure that inkjet solutions can efficiently and cost-effectively handle a large throughput of work as well as ultra-short runs (even single prints).

How will inkjet help me grow my business?

High speed inkjet technology enables commercial printers to take the next steps towards the digitalisation of their print business. Industrial-scale productivity, print quality that matches offset and access to automated digital workflow, are all key reasons why inkjet will help you to grow your business today and beyond.

For digital printers already using electrophotographic technology, inkjet opens up new opportunities for higher run-lengths and print volumes. Alternatively, traditional offset printers can now complement their existing product line-up with a flexible solution which will enable them to expand their capacity and grow into new markets.

With an investment into high-speed inkjet technology, commercial printers can cover their present printing requirements, while looking to the future and adapting their business models to add greater value for their customers and be better able to react flexibly to changing market and consumer demands.

It’s time to look to the future and reTHINK Commercial Print.

Reduce your environmental impacts with Canon

We strive to improve sustainability at every stage of our manufacturing processes, while supporting our customers as they reduce their environmental impact.

Full circle: the importance of sustainability and the circular economy

Could you reduce your environmental impacts while contributing to the circular economy? Discover how we work to make improvements throughout our products’ lifecycles.


Sustainability is a crucial element of any business development plan. But why is sustainability important? Incorporating long-term thinking will pay long-term dividends, and not just in blunt financial terms. Owing to a clearer understanding of environmental issues, people are placing value on sustainability like never before. Limiting your environmental and societal impact can therefore play a significant role in building your reputation, engaging customers and attracting talent to your workforce. Moreover, government regulations for businesses are turning environmental ideals into legal obligations, while investing in more sustainable materials, products, services and technology can save money day to day. But, more importantly, it’s everyone’s responsibility to protect our future by taking sustainable action now.

UN Sustainable Development Goals – a useful framework

Improving your organisation’s sustainability credentials can seem overwhelming. Small steps can make a big difference, but when adopting a more rigid and consistent strategy the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals can provide a framework1. Also known as Global Goals or SDGs, they are intended to work together to ‘balance social, economic and environmental sustainability’. They were set in 2015 with a goal to achieve them by 2030, and are therefore well established and understood across global regions and industries.

From an environmental sustainability perspective SDG 12 and SDG 13 should be a key focus for businesses. SDG 12 concerns ‘responsible consumption and production’, and includes, for instance, conserving raw materials through designing more compact and lightweight products, using recycled and recyclable materials to create more sustainable packaging, reducing chemical usage in production processes, and promoting product-to-product recycling. SDG 13 regards ‘climate action’ and prioritises a reduction of CO2 emissions throughout the lifecycle of a product, including through the use of renewable energy. Following SDGs must be a combined effort; processes such as recycling and renewable energy production can only be achieved successfully if the supply chain is there. Multinationals, government agencies and other major organisations are therefore using their influence to ensure suppliers share their values and procurement standards – offering an opportunity for businesses of any size to benefit from others’ sustainable development strategy.

The product lifecycle: cradle to cradle

For a manufacturer like Canon, the UN’s SDGs touch every stage of a product’s lifecycle. Even before production, during the development and design stages, the energy efficiency and recyclability of products must be considered and improved. Material procurement, manufacturing, distribution and recycling – and beyond – all play a part in a product’s overall sustainability. Setting rigorous quality and environmental management guidelines can ensure supply chain and manufacturing processes reflect the values of a business, an industry and, importantly, customers. Environmental impact assessments2 can monitor progress on aspects such as CO2 emission reductions, while an environmental management system such as ISO 14001 can help keep commitments on track. There are many more industry-backed programmes that can provide a structure for any business, of any size, seeking to reduce their environmental impact.

It’s easy to think of sustainability strategies as linear, with a prize at the finish line. In the 21st century reality however, thinking has shifted from ‘cradle to the grave’ to ‘cradle to cradle’: a circular lifecycle that runs from R&D through to remanufacturing, and back again. The circular economy relies on keeping products and materials in use for as long as possible, through repair and reuse, before moving on to remanufacturing and recycling processes. Reducing the reliance on raw materials, and the emissions from transport and manufacturing, helps to protect the environment, while the lower prices associated with remanufactured products can cut costs.

Taking the path of Kyosei

Canon operates according to the ethos of Kyosei, a Japanese word meaning ‘living and working together for the common good’. It covers sustainability, social responsibility and ensuring our customers can rely on us to share their values. We use the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a framework to define our commitments to responsible consumption, production and climate action, and have achieved the EcoVadis gold award – an internationally recognised sustainability accreditation – for the last six years3. We are also ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 accredited, demonstrating that our production processes meet industry standards in terms of quality and sustainability.

Kyosei is embedded into everything we do at Canon, including in our technology. We have reduced the lifecycle CO2 emissions of our products by 40% since 2008 (an average of 4.7% per year), and improved logistics sustainability by downsizing products and consolidating stock locations. By driving energy-efficient design across a wide range of workspace products, we achieved an expected CO2 reduction of 23,593,000 tons between 2008 and 2019. Today’s latest imageRUNNER ADVANCE DX C5800 Series, for example, produces 18% less CO2 over the lifetime of the device compared to its predecessor* during use compared to previous releases.

In addition to driving down the lifecycle CO2 emissions of our products, Canon EMEA repairs over 80,000 products returned from customers in and out of warranty every year. We also remanufacture a range of our best-selling multifunction printers into new-condition imageRUNNER ADVANCE EQ80 devices, using 80% of the original MFP and reducing our reliance on new raw materials.

Businesses – big and small – have the power to plan their own course, including mapping their sustainability journey. When making important business decisions, from awarding procurement contracts to investing in a new office printer fleet, organisations can make a big impact by embedding sustainability as a key priority.

Discover more about how Canon reduces the environmental impacts throughout our products’ lifecycles whilst contributing to the circular economy in our environmental infographic.

How to maintain and accelerate productivity in a hybrid workspace

Find out how to supercharge processes in a hybrid working set-up, from renewing a customer contract to getting a supplier invoice approved.

Want to keep your teams on all-systems-go, wherever they’re based?


Historically, the phrase ‘office workers’ has been a shorthand not just for where people were working, but the type of work they were doing – information-based and, over the last two decades, performed on computers.

In recent years, the concept of office working has evolved again. Instead of being tied to one location, organisations are increasingly allowing employees to work anywhere, provided that they are still productive.

Many of our customers are moving towards this hybrid working model long-term, combining several types of workspace: from a central or satellite company hub, to employees’ homes, to shared co-working spaces, to the train carriage or departure lounge while travelling.

As hybrid work becomes increasingly common, the question on IT leaders’ lips is evolving from how to enable work outside the office, to how to optimise it to make it as productive as it can be.

Below, we explore four frequently asked questions from organisations looking to maintain and accelerate productivity in a hybrid working environment, and explain how Canon can help address them.

Many of our departments still rely on paper in their everyday workflows. Will that make it difficult to adapt to a hybrid model?

It’s common for companies to be dependent on paper documents; this doesn’t make it impossible to move to a hybrid working model, but it can make it more complex.

Shifting to a digital-only model isn’t necessary immediately, but it’s crucial to optimise dependence on printing over time. Doing so will not only make it easier for your teams to work from other locations, but also lead to lower costs – both financial and environmental.

At Canon, our expertise is in managing and integrating complex document workflows which combine paper and digital processes. We understand that most organisations are on a journey towards digitisation, and we can support you on it. Regardless of the unique balance in your organisation, we can provide tailored support with adapting to a hybrid model.

How can we make sure that teams who use paper-based workflows can still work efficiently in a distributed team?

While there may still be a need to have a certain number of employees in a central location at specific times, no employee should be confined because of their need to print or scan.

At Canon, we offer hardware designed for every type of workspace, including desktop-sized devices for home working and powerful multifunctional ones made for busy offices. Our devices come with inbuilt connectivity that allows teams to access the documents they need, even from outside the office.

For example, with our imageRUNNER ADVANCE DX C5800 Series, documents can be scanned straight to cloud storage destinations such as OneDrive and Dropbox, or into existing workflow applications. They can also be automatically stored or categorised by machine learning software, making it easy for teams to share paperwork and continue workflows across locations while reducing manual errors.

Thanks to compatibility with mobile applications such as Canon’s Print Business and uniFLOW Online Print & Scan, employees can even send documents to print, or receive digitised documents to their mobile while on the go, ensuring that they can still get work done efficiently, wherever they are.

We team our hardware with an extensive suite of software that’s been designed to work seamlessly with our devices. Solutions such as Cloud Workspace Collaboration – Process Automation provide the perfect document management and collaboration service for a hybrid business. It’s a cloud-based ‘location agnostic’ platform that enables employees to locate, securely access and process documents instantly, from anywhere.

We know that process automation can support employee productivity, but have to keep budget in mind. What automation applications should we prioritise to support a distributed workforce?

Firstly, consider what pain points will be introduced to your workflows if they are taken offsite. Process automation is a really useful tool for taking over or augmenting repetitive, structured tasks. If you put that in the context of a hybrid workforce, your focus should be on automating repetitive tasks that usually have to be managed by teams in-person.

Canon has a wealth of experience in helping organisations manage these processes. Our technologies help take the burden off employees, so that workflows can progress efficiently while they spend their time on more valuable tasks.

Our Cloud Workspace Collaboration – Process Automation service provides pre-configured and automated workflows for common business applications such as contract management and invoice processing. Organisations buying our devices can instantly activate digital workflows straight from them, helping to keep business progressing efficiently across locations.

A woman wearing red, standing outside a building, holding her phone and smiling.

Moving to a hybrid working model involves a lot of additional complexity for our IT team. How can we avoid being overwhelmed with additional work?

Managing IT across a hybrid working environment is not simple; there are many aspects to consider, from ensuring teams can access their data and documents, to preventing new security vulnerabilities.

To make hybrid working as effective as possible, it’s important to take a holistic view of your IT estate. While your organisation may be operating across several locations, they are not independent from one another; your teams need to communicate and connect across them seamlessly. Adopting a piecemeal approach to IT that cobbles together tools and solutions can cause disjointed workflows and integration headaches, resulting in further delays and complexities.

With this in mind, it’s not just about providing technology; it’s about providing technology that works seamlessly together and across locations. This is something that we’ve put at the heart of our Digital Transformation Services: an ecosystem of hardware, software and services designed to support effective working from anywhere. These tried-and-tested technologies are designed to work together, reducing complications and downtime for workers and the IT team.

We also know that managing a device fleet is a headache at the best of times, but can be particularly difficult when the devices aren’t even on the company premises. uniFLOW Online, our cloud-based software, provides a single platform to connect all working locations. Through this platform you can centrally manage your fleet, no matter where devices are located, from user security permissions, to monitoring print usage, all from wherever you are working.

Planning for productivity

Productivity is tightly tied to an organisation’s bottom line and is therefore high on every leader’s list of priorities. Many organisations will be concerned about the impact that disrupting their traditional operating model will have on their employees’ productivity levels.

But with the right partner, and the right ecosystem in place, hybrid working doesn’t just allow you to maintain ‘business as usual.’ Rather, it provides the opportunity to rethink and optimise existing workflows to accelerate productivity.

Meanwhile, investing in the right foundation of technologies doesn’t just help you improve hybrid working in the here and now. It’s important to see your organisation’s future as an opportunity for ongoing optimisation. This foundation helps IT teams to prepare their organisation for change, making it easier to evolve and optimise in future.

Data and Digital Print – Going Beyond Personalisation

Explore how data and digital print add value to each other.

Go beyond personalisation with smart use of data

Data has often been called the new gold, however data collected in isolation and not used in context is of limited value. Like gold, data has to be intelligently filtered, refined and shaped to unlock its full value.

Unlike gold which is a rare commodity, data is everywhere, the problem for marketeers and consumers alike is that there is to much of it and in many digital channels we have already reached the point of data or information overload.

This creates an opportunity for print, the most trusted form of communication we have today, which can be personalised and manipulated just like online content, but has the tangibility, durability and ability to impact the senses far more than words and images on a web page or in an e-mail alone.

Online personalisation is falling short in many aspects – impact, trust and cost effectiveness, to name just a few – but when combined with print intelligently the results can be significantly improved.

Download our report today to learn techniques to overcome digital overload and fatigue, with examples of how print service providers today have deployed these tactics, managing data to help their customers whilst at the same time generating profitable new print volume.