The Datamax Thinking Blog

The MFP, in many ways a centerpiece in our workflow place-setting, continues to have an evolving role in how paper and digital files co-exist in the workplace.

The “Paperless Office:” It’s been a corporate prophecy scripted upon blogs much like this for years, as offices of all sizes gather tools and solutions necessary to tackle the digital transformation. Without a doubt, workflow is increasingly digital in nature.

However, according to numbers complied in Canon’s recent “Office Insights 2018” release, paper itself isn’t going anywhere anytime soon – quite the opposite. It seems that the paperless office is a gradual, steady process of automation that enables best printing and workflow practices for the foreseeable future.

This legislation is a game changer for how applicable organizations process, retain and store customer data. 

On May 25, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was officially enforced, representing a watershed moment for consumer data protection and privacy moving forward.

This legislation, designed to better unify and protect data privacy for European Union citizens, applies to those within EU-member countries, so US-based companies may not think that this overseas legislation is relevant to their everyday business.  These companies should think again: The GDPR could be very relevant to you and the way you currently collect and store data.

The central objective of utilizing Document Management is to make your overall business processes more efficient, and specifically to accelerate and properly secure the way you move documents across your office.

Do a simple Google search for "Document Management," and you’ll see the cliché images with limited search time. The piles of paper stacked on the boss’ desk.  Documents swirling across an office. Even business people swimming in paper documents.

It’s true. Many offices are overwhelmed by paper documents. Also, when compared to a Document Management solution,  it is inefficient and costly. Estimates are that 11% of your paper files will be either lost or misplaced. Organizations often find that by digitizing their workflow, their documents begin working for them, rather than the opposite.

But digital conversion is only one component – and hardly the overarching intention – behind utilizing Document Management.

Vertical Marketing comes down to truly understanding and anticipating your clients’ every move. By going vertical, your clients can grow vertical and positively impact their bottom line.

Author Anthony T. Hinks is quoted as saying “it’s when you’re going vertical that you leave the other players standing.” The game of basketball, an athlete mid-dunk, may immediately come to mind. But these words very much apply to business.

A Network Risk Assessment can dispel security concerns and propel your team to the ultimate goal for your organization and its network infrastructure – peace of mind.

For me, there’s perhaps no better mind-clearing, stress-relieving pastime then a jaunt along the trails at a nearby state park. The sun poking its way through the towering pine trees, coupled with the low-volume sounds of the early morning surrounding me, provides me peace of mind to empower a productive week ahead.

Isn’t peace of mind – in our homes and our workplace – what we all ultimately crave? Given today’s volatile cyber security climate, fear and uncertainty of everything from downtime to network intrusion can disrupt an organization’s collective contentment.

Specific print management solutions provide various levels of control and can help business owners of all-sized organizations better track usage, from features like Secure Print available directly on your MFP, up to robust enterprise, server-based solutions. 

My brother-in-law, the sales director for a newly-opened auto dealership, strives to find any way possible to keep costs low and minimize wasteful practices as the business gains momentum. We chatted about his recent challenges at a recent Sunday gathering, the buzz of March Madness games echoing from the tv in a nearby room.

Being in the industry I’m in, I naturally asked him about the set up of copiers and printers at the dealership. He struggled to recall the make and model of the machine that sits near his office.  And then he shook his head.

“But I can tell you this for sure: There’s a ton of waste,” he said. “Every day I see copies just sitting on or around the copier all the time. You wouldn’t believe it.”

Regular collaboration is a powerful tool in staying fresh within your organization and within your industry. After all, two – or more – heads are usually better than one.

My front yard flowerbed is perpetually on the brink of being overtaken by weeds.

Just as quickly as I can remove the Greenbrier vine, the pesky East Texas weed is already poking its way back through the soil, wrapping around my boxwood shrubs and Azaleas (whose blooms have me daydreaming about the upcoming Masters Tournament). Regular care and maintenance is a necessity if I want to achieve desired growth in my yard.

Providing Managed Services or even Copier Service can be a lot like my flowerbed.

A Managed Network Services program fine tunes and establishes control over all the moving components of your network.

Your business's network – much like, say, your home’s air conditioning unit - steadily hums along, quietly unnoticed, with what seems like relative ease. But day-to-day maintenance and unexpected downtime can make any IT administrator feel the heat in a hurry.

The Unified Firmware Platform allows for version upgrades, including added functionality, to existing models in a same generation on a regular basis.

According to a recent report, the average new car loses 27 percent of its value after the first year.  It’s a course of action that commences the minute you drive it off the lot.  For decades, copiers shared in this vulnerability. As new models were introduced, previous versions were perpetually more obsolete with every new feature released by the manufacturer.

Canon's Unified Firmware Platform changed all that. 

As companies of every size rely on IT to operate, it’s becoming more difficult to find and hire the IT expertise you need. Is there an alternative?

When it comes to IT, many small and medium businesses struggle to find the right balance of reliability, responsiveness, and cost – not to mention technical expertise. In most cases, IT support is usually one of four ways:

• Your niece, nephew, or first born, who is “really technical” and oversees the details for you
• A company a business friend of yours uses that you call when your computers start freezing
• A dedicated, in-house IT department that you keep on your payroll and “does it all”
• A proactively, managed provider who provides a blend of remote monitoring, preventative maintenance, and help desk support when you need it

Understanding the difference between these types of support is critical to protecting your business. Hackers are everywhere, they want your information, and they are just waiting to take advantage of your small business’s network vulnerabilities.