Looking ahead to 2023 can be an opportunity to reflect on the previous year and build a plan for the future. Continuing to reevaluate and assess can spark fresh ideas while encouraging ways to strive for improvements as a partner, industry leader and societal contributor.
There are many ways to embody this philosophy. Diversifying offerings can expand the breadth and utility of a portfolio, helping dealers bring dynamic products to their customer base. Examples of this are creative collaboration tools for hybrid work, or even robotics. A wide-ranging repository of products can assist in putting dealers in positions to succeed against the backdrop of changing markets, trends and customer preferences in the upcoming year.
Hybrid work has been a significant consideration in evolving and adapting to the changing environment over the last few years. For dealers, the quick shift to hybrid work led to the challenge of navigating a landscape that had been altered abruptly. Prioritizing cloud-based software may be an attractive way to provide flexible setups that offer security features for print and scan environments.
Cloud technology is contributing to the transformation of business, where platform security, scalability, and resilience are key. By combining dedicated hardware with cloud-based services, hybrid technology provides flexibility to take advantage of on-demand cloud resources while simultaneously working to satisfy even the most complex business processes and security requirements.
As dealers seek additional opportunities for growth, managed services can be an important part of their plans for the upcoming year. Services designed to enhance business processes to securely and effectively capture, manage, and distribute information can help contribute toward a key goal for all organizations’ efficiency. The ability to provide customized solutions for companies of all sizes and across different sectors can help achieve goals of reducing costs, increasing productivity, and improving sustainability outcomes.
Print still plays a vital part in the way businesses communicate, both internally and externally. But the costs and challenges of printing can be high and complex, making it difficult to manage. With changes in their work environment, businesses are realizing the need to focus on reassessing and actively managing their print environments to help control costs and enhance operational efficiencies. Providing insight into the current state of the print environment can help customers make informed decisions regarding fleet optimization, which can contribute to expense management and operational efficiencies.
The proliferation of hybrid work has created a residual impact regarding technological challenges. But there is an opportunity for dealers to offer technology that can help solve customer problems related to communicating and collaborating across hybrid teams. Finding a niche market can open opportunities outside of the usual crowded playing field and offer a way to address areas where customers aren’t being served. Providing solutions that address a key customer challenge that’s been left unanswered can help foster a strong reputation for being a reliable go-to source in that field.
Ultimately, remaining adaptable to new challenges can put channel partners in a strong position to have success in the new year. Diverse offerings and flexible responses to customer challenges can make a dealer stand out among the competition.
Katsuhiro “Jerry” Matsufuji is vice president and general manager for the Business Information Communications Group of Canon U.S.A., Inc. In his role, Matsufuji helps enterprises leverage the solutions and technology needed to thrive in today’s competitive business climate. During his 34-year career at Canon, Matsufuji has worked at offices both inside and outside of the U.S., showcasing the strength of his leadership.
