Three signs of a best-in-class cloud output management solution for 2024

How can you achieve seamless and secure hybrid working that supports your sustainability objectives?
Canon uniFLOW Online an advanced secure print and scan solution.

Always one step ahead

In recent years, there has been a revolution in how we print documents whilst we are working. Beyond hotdesking and not having a fixed location in the office, employees no longer need to even be in the office to use devices.

That’s because every day, businesses around the world scan, store, share and print countless documents through the cloud.

We recognised this shift early on. In 2016, we launched uniFLOW Online to meet the evolving needs of organisations as they adopted new technologies and discovered new ways of working.

Since then, we’ve continuously enhanced uniFLOW Online to serve businesses of all sizes – and it has become the most feature-rich and secure cloud-based output management solution on the market, allowing teams to speed up their workflows and collaborate effectively from different locations.

That’s why, for the sixth consecutive year, uniFLOW Online has won the Buyers Lab (BLI) Pick Award from Keypoint Intelligence for Outstanding Cloud Output Management Solution.

So, which three attributes define an award-winning cloud output management solution in 2024?

1. It makes hybrid working seamless

Hybrid working is the new normal. By the end of 2023, 48% of global knowledge workers will follow a hybrid or remote working pattern1. For businesses in 2024, the lesson is clear: success comes from adapting to this trend and empowering their employees to work productively together anywhere.

Through uniFLOW Online, your teams can easily access documents stored in the cloud and then print, perhaps mark up or sign and then scan them, whether at home, in a co-working space or when at the office.

Thanks to its comprehensive feature portfolio, uniFLOW Online helps you monitor and secure print activity, track and reduce costs, simplify mobile printing, optimise scan workflows, and manage output devices through a single platform in the cloud.

For those based in the office, the -new, intuitive device user interface transforms the print and scan experience, setting new standards in usability, design and security.

Easy, self-service features allow users to link securely to your SharePoint, Teams and online cloud storage - for a seamless user experience. Frequently printed documents and their settings are easily recallable to save job setup time for those complicated tasks.

2. It’s secure by design

With security breaches going up for 61% of organisations in the past year alone2, many organisations are increasingly aware of the need for a holistic information security strategy, underpinned by advanced document management solutions.

For leading solutions, security is never an afterthought. It’s fundamental to their design and operation.

We are proud to introduce two new additional layers of security to uniFLOW Online this year. The new Bluetooth Low Energy card reader allows users to easily and securely authenticate devices using mobile devices to release their print jobs.

Crucially, we have also built on our existing support for zero-trust print environments by adding release from your mobile device when at the multifunctional device (MFD) and other direct printing options. Using uniFLOW Online means you can contain any potential security threats, due its robust and resilient microsegmented implementation that separates all computers and devices on a network completely.

Of course, it goes without saying that uniFLOW Online protects your physical documents and tracks who prints them. With multiple ‘authenticate at device’ options, this print and scan solution ensures that nothing is printed unless the user is present to collect – no more privacy breaching documents left in the output tray.

3. It supports your sustainability goals

Taking sustainability seriously is no longer optional – your customers, employees and other stakeholders are all increasingly expecting to see action to reduce environmental impact.

Understanding how print fits into your overall sustainability strategy is critical. But to do that, you need visibility and control over your print activity.

With uniFLOW Online, you can track user print behaviours across your fleet, digitise processes to reduce unnecessary printing, and set overall policies such as double-sided printing to cut paper usage.

It will give you the tools – such as deleting jobs that the user doesn’t go to a machine to print, or forcing rules to make certain documents black and white – to make your resources go further and contribute towards reducing your emissions. So however far along you are in your sustainability journey, you’ll continue to make positive steps towards your goals.

Choose an award-winning solution

With all that in mind, it’s no surprise that uniFLOW Online is the solution of choice for over 5,000 organisations across the EMEA region.

This most recent Pick Award from Keypoint Intelligence confirms what our users already know about our Outstanding Cloud Output Management Solution: Canon uniFLOW Online is among the most advanced and secure platforms to help them manage their print and document workflows.

Want to learn more about how uniFLOW Online can help your teams collaborate better? Visit the product page here or get in touch with your local Canon representative.

  1. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-03-01-gartner-forecasts-39-percent-of-global-knowledge-workers-will-work-hybrid-by-the-end-of-2023
  2. Quocirca Print Security Landscape 2023

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Want to learn more about how uniFLOW Online can help your teams collaborate better? Visit the product page here or get in touch with your local Canon representative.