Security and scanning create competitive advantage

PURCHASING - September 15, 2005

Karen Prema

Multifunction products (MFP) are making work processes easier and less costly for workgroups to copy, print, scan to e-mail, fax and perform general office duties on one consolidated device. Shared devices, however, create security concerns for offices, which has the interest of copier manufacturers. The manufacturers also are busy introducing copier-based MFPs with improved color and scanning capabilities.

Outlook

Don Dixon, a market analyst at Gartner, based in Stamford, Conn., says the copier-based MFP industry will see strong double-digit growth in color placements, while monochrome placements will remain flat. Suppliers historically strong in the monochrome segments of the market are replacing them with color devices, he explains. This year, Gartner reports the industry will ship 140,000 copier MFPs, compared to 100,000 in 2004.

Dixon says that average selling prices for both monochrome and color copier-based MFPs will decline. Prices are falling due to market demands and competition from printer-based MFPs. "There is a market for printer-centric MFPs with the same output speed, but less durability, so of course less cost," he says.

Cathy Lewis, senior vice president of marketing, IKON Office Solutions, a distributor of copiers, printers and MFPs based in Malvern, Pa., sees a 20% plus growth rate for copier-based MFPs this year. Digital technology in copier-based MFPs allows for improved scanning capabilities as well as for a strong copy function to move quickly to a printing function, she says.

Along with Dixon, she expects price erosion of 5-7% on monochrome devices and 5-10% price erosion on color devices.

Lewis says that although color is growing in the office, most companies are no longer worried about controlling color. "A few years ago, to print a color page was 30¢ to 40¢ per page," she says. "Companies had to watch closely to who had access to print color. Today, that same color page is under 10¢. Companies are moving to MFPs, where they can count the pages and know what they're spending because that is where the cost lays."

What's new

While corporate buyers move to consolidate de-vices, and more people work off a central MFP, security has become an issue, even for the general office. "Even a small business that wants to communicate with its bank is starting to be concerned with security," says David Bates, director of product marketing at Xerox, based in Stamford, Conn. He says identity theft is everybody's concern, and not just an issue for the government and large accounts.

Not only are security options a trend among copier manufacturers, but new federal regulations make security a requirement. Federal regulations, like Sarbanes-Oxley, are designed to safeguard information reported on copiers and printers. Xerox has certified products that comply with government standards to meet growing customer demand, says Bates.

In June, Xerox introduced 18 additions to its CopyCentre, WorkCentre and WorkCentre Pro lines of digital copiers and MFP systems. Security functionality added to document workflow in the WorkCentre and WorkCentre Pro encrypt data traveling on the network to ensure unauthorized viewers do not have access to scanned documents en route to file servers or other network repositories.

Scanning is one of the biggest trends impacting office buyers and probably moving the fastest, says Bates. Color file sizes, in particular, get very large, he says. Enhanced scanning capabilities on the new products reduce file sizes of scanned documents up to 50% through the Master Raster Content and JBIG2 compression technologies. When people scan documents to file servers or fax machines, the smaller the file size will reduce network loads and decreases storage space required on the server.

Toshiba is also taking security measures to accommodate customers. It announced the e-STUDIO multifunction series in June, which offers several optional security capabilities. The Scrambler Board, for instance, encrypts the data on the hard-disk drive to be unrecognizable if someone tried to steal the disk off the MFP. The Scrambler Board then decrypts the document when it is printed out. In addition, network authentication asks for a person's name and password before they gain access to the MFP and its scanning and copying capabilities, which prevents unauthorized access.

Another trend, according to Steve Rhorer, the director of product marketing at Toshiba, is the growing demand for high-speed color in the business environment. "We know that color is growing, and important at 20-40 ppm, but we are seeing a lot of businesses looking for higher speed at 45-55 ppm, in full color. That is emerging right now."

Kyocera Mita announced in July its KM-C2630, which offers color imaging to meet the industry's surging demand for color. One feature is its auto color calibration technology, which is built in to maintain consistent image quality page after page, according to Bill Cassidy, the product marketing manager for monochrome MFPs. He says drift color is a big issue with color environments, and the technology sets the machine to specific intervals so page one looks the same as page 201.

Other technology on the KM-C2630 are virtual mailboxes. Up to 255 mailboxes can be set up for mere security and convenience. Each mailbox is unique to a user with passcodes. Data can also be accessed directly from the control panel by entering the passcode. It only allows the person printing the documents to view any output.

Canon is accommodating workgroups with its two new lines of color imageRUNNER 2620 and imageRUNNER C3170 series released in July. Both offer MEAP (multifunctional embedded application platform) technology, which now allows for more embedded applications. MEAP-enabled devices feature virtual mailboxes, which are a big advantage for customers. For instance, Greg Ryan, the senior manager for industry and alliance marketing for Canon, says that a salesperson traveling throughout the country, but still part of their company's network, can search the virtual mailbox and access and print documents and sales presentations from any MEAP-enabled device.

Other features include Universal Send, the PDF high-compression mode on the imageRUNNER 2620 series. It compresses file size by 1/20 to scan and send documents. Users don't have to wait to open or send files with this option.

"Canon is the only manufacturer to offer Web capabilities on the imageRUNNER 3170 series," says Paul Albano, manager of product marketing for Canon. Users can browse Web pages and download PDF files from the control panel and print from the MFP. It's similar to viewing Web pages via a cell phone. Canon's imageRUNNER series also offers security features like encryption.