The Datamax Thinking Blog

Educating, collaborating, and sparking ideas for maximizing the technology that matters.


12 Print Management Capabilities for K-12 Campuses to Explore

For schools and their print environment, it’s about managing print behavior and costs in order to maximize their allotted budget. Print Management can help with that.

Schools are unique animals when it comes to printing.

So many users. So many types of devices. So many types of documents, all of which are essential to classroom functionality. On top of that, the classroom (and technology therein) is changing rapidly. Whether education is conducted on-site, remotely, or in a combination of both, the technology utilized should seamlessly integrate with different educational applications and offer cost-effective features, enabling schools to make the most of their resources.

Topics: Canon Color Copier Office Equipment Print Management Canon USA Education Tips and Tools

7 Stats That Tell Your Copier Company's True Value to Your Team

When choosing your next copier provider, analytics help you make the right decision. These 7 stats help tell the story.

With the opening days of baseball in tow, diamonds are once again becoming sports fans’ best friends across the country.

Though the lore of the game lives deeply in American tradition, it’s changed, recent rules changes notwithstanding. Though baseball has long been a stat-driven affair, a new and emerging set of analytics (OPS, WHIP, WAR) help develop a new understanding of a player’s true value to his team.

Topics: Office Equipment Print Management Canon USA Copier Repair Copier Repair Service

Find Out if Your Copier Repair Service Provider is 'Up to Snuff'

Whatever may be keeping you (and your equipment) down, reliability, efficiency, and general technician "know-how" are key factors in choosing your next copier repair provider.

"Up to Snuff." It's an old phrase that we all seem to decipher as "meeting a required standard," yet the origins of this familiar saying are unclear; furthermore, how a reference to smokeless tobacco came to describe "of good quality" is a little bewildering.

Subpar service, be it at your home or in your office, is more than bewildering...definitely time-consuming... and beyond frustrating. Your office equipment is no exception.

Topics: Canon Color Copier Training Office Equipment Technology Support Canon USA Service Training

Stay Up to Speed on Security with Canon's Unified Firmware Platform

Unified Firmware Platform allows these models to be updated with features, new functionalities and, yes, enhanced security measures on an ongoing basis without a complete model upgrade.

As the security threat landscape progresses, and the business security environment becomes rapidly more complex, your organization’s cybersecurity systems (including that of your copier/multi-function printer) should evolve accordingly. This can make a small business owner feel insecure on multiple fronts.

Topics: Canon Color Copier Office Equipment Print Management Canon USA Secure Printing

5 Essential Endpoint Security Considerations When Purchasing MFPs

When it comes to security, MFPs should be treated just like any other endpoint on the network.

So, it's time to finally upgrade your copier(s) or MFP(s). How seriously have you considered security?

Although speeds, feeds, and cost of ownership are still relevant elements of pre-sale discovery and dialog, a heads-up sales consultant will also proactively introduce MFP Control and Security to the conversation. They know, when it comes to security, MFPs should be treated just like any other endpoint on the network.

Topics: Office Equipment Canon USA Secure Printing

McAfee Embedded Control Enhances Endpoint Security on Canon MFPs

McAfee Embedded Control blocks the execution of unauthorized applications like malware through intelligent whitelisting.

In an attempt to fully secure your home, imagine creating a list of every potential intruder that exists in your neighborhood, in your city, and beyond. Now – imagine creating a list of every APPROVED individual into your home.

Topics: Printer Management Multifunction Copier Office Equipment Canon USA Secure Printing

Canon's Unified Firmware Platform: Keeping Pace With Security Updates

Canon’s Unified Firmware Platform (UFP) allows Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE models to be updated with cutting-edge features, new functionality, and enhanced security measures on an ongoing basis.

For a runner, the challenge of keeping a steady, fast pace only grows stronger the longer the race goes on.

Hackers and cyberattacks are evolving faster than ever before. In response, necessary security updates often move at a sprinter’s pace, with no finish line to speak of. Meanwhile, your documents, your networks, and your devices need to stay "fresh" to protect against security threats … and obsolescence.

Topics: Office Equipment Document Security Canon USA Cybersecurity Secure Printing

A Mass Migration: How Architects, Engineers and Construction Firms Can Collaborate Better in the Cloud

How efficiently does your firm access and share key documents, both internally and externally? In the office and out in the field? When it comes to high-speed collaboration, could your head be in the clouds?

“We’ve had a change of plans.”

Whether those words are coming from the pilot pre-take off or the marketing department hours before a large-scale proposal pitch, they’re rarely welcomed. The phrase stirs up both anxiety and a need to swiftly shift one’s mode of thinking.

Architectural, engineering and construction firms, of course, deal with those words regularly - beginning with blueprints and continuing on the construction site. New versions of plans may be issued multiple times on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis. Core document updates, such as floor plans, change orders, or materials specifications evolve, and all parties need access to the most up-to-date set at any particular time.

Topics: Cloud Canon USA Content Management AEC Solutions

Onward & Upward: 5 New uniFLOW Online Features We're Sky-High On

New features from cloud-based print/scan solution uniFLOW Online demonstrate 5 key advantages for organizations looking to improve productivity and enhance security in their print environment. 

There’s an old joke among pilots that the most dangerous part of flying is driving to the airport.

Once into the clouds, they reason, travel is both better streamlined and more secure.

As organizations look to the cloud for operational flexibility, scalability and enhanced security, those navigating the Software as a Service (SaaS) airways continue to report clear skies ahead.

Topics: Scanning Printing Printer Management Solutions Document Security Cloud Canon USA

Technology Forecast: Office Climate Change Imminent, but Probability of Printing Remains High

In the report, 36 percent of enterprises surveyed say they are printing MORE OFTEN than they were 12 months ago, while only 14 percent are printing less often. Similarly, 40 percent are scanning more often and 35 percent are copying more often.

By 2020, Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group predicts that 50 billion physical IoT devices will be connected to the Internet, consuming, generating, and communicating data. The office is no exception.

Crucial documents reside on our desks and file cabinets, but also in cloud servers and mobile devices. With such wide and easy access to the information we need, it’s tempting to think that printing may soon become a function of the past.

As ESPN analyst Lee Corso famously says on College Football Game Day, “Not so fast, my friend!”

Topics: Scanning Printing Printer Management Multifunction Copier Office Equipment Document Security Print Management Canon USA Managed Print Services