Canon has VARs and MSPs in its sights as it looks to expand the market for single-function scanners and document workflow solutions
Like many office print leaders, Canon has been diversifying its product offering to meet customers’ changing needs. Where it differs from many of its competitors is that instead of attempting to diversify into multiple new areas and reinvent itself as an IT services provider, Canon has maintained its focus on the document lifecycle.
That, at least, has been its approach on the indirect side. In October 2022, Canon’s direct business started offering customers IT services through a strategic alliance with AdEPT Technology. Following Wavenet’s acquisition of the managed services provider in February, Canon has expanded its services portfolio to include cloud, cybersecurity & compliance, unified comms/voice, collaboration (inc. Teamslink) and networking/connectivity.
Gary Organ, Canon Indirect Sales Manager for Software & Scan Technology, told Technology Reseller that Canon had no plans to go down the same route on the channel side in the immediate future.
“In June, we held our Make It Together UK & Ireland Partner Conference 2023 and one of the key themes running through that was diversification – 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 Canon’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% of pre-Covid levels, Organ says 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 said.
“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 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.
Scanner opportunity
To this end, Canon has created a channel education programme highlighting the opportunities in dedicated scanner sales for MFP partners that might not be aware of the scale of the market for scanners, whether they are deployed as standalone products or as part of a balanced deployment.
Organ points out that while MFP resellers used to be concerned about cannibalising their MFP MIF (machines in field) with scanner sales, changes in print and scan requirements since the pandemic, combined with organisations’ digital transformation strategies, 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?’.”
One of the key strengths of Canon’s scanner offering is the ability to feed data directly into software applications, which Canon has highlighted in a new video created for resellers that demonstrates the seamless workflow between a DR- S150 scanner and Therefore document management software.
“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: *Therefore (available on-prem 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;
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 the OCR component of IRIS data capture technology can now be integrated into the scanning element of uniFLOW.
Organ adds that another of Canon’s strengths is the breadth of its offering, from personal/mobile scanning to mid- range production scanning where Canon has around 35% market share (compared to a 12% market share of the overall scanner market). 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 (information management) business with them over the mid-term.”
Organ added: “There’s a huge breadth of technology in our scan portfolio; we’ve got class-leading software that links directly into our devices; we’ve got a really experienced team; we’re getting really positive feedback from the market; and we’re interested in working with new partners and supporting them in identifying opportunities not just with scan but with a variety of products.”
To find out more about how you can develop additional opportunities with Canon scanners and software solutions, please contact Edward Hahn (edward.hahn@cuk.canon.co.uk) or Rachael Preston (rachael.preston@cuk.canon. co.uk) for scan opportunities and Ben Fitzwilliams (ben.fitzwilliams@cuk.canon. co.uk) for software opportunities.
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