Canon's call to the enterprise: pleased to MEAP you!
Canon's call to the enterprise: pleased to MEAP you!
Apr 28, 2005: Canon Australia has introduced a new platform for its range of imaging products that dramatically increases the options for the management and security of documents across the enterprise.
The technology, called MEAP (Multifunctional Embedded Application Platform) allows Canon, or indeed its customers, integrators or developers, to simplify many aspects of the workflow process, including document management, policy enforcement, access control, printing and scanning.
The company has been including MEAP capability to its MFDs for around 18 months, but is only now starting to issue its MEAP Software Development Kit (SDK) licences.
Ernst & Young is one of the first clients in Australia to implement MEAP technology, and has done so in its premises across Australia. Its employees now use their building access cards to identify themselves whenever they collect their printing, which is often client confidential. By introducing this action of swiping their ID cards at the print station, employees are less likely to leave important, confidential documents lying in the MFD, as they are wont to do when carrying out the entire process remotely. It also means they don't have to search through other staff members' print jobs to find their own documents.
"At Ernst & Young, we've long known that moving from personal desktop printers to shared MFDs can help an organisation to dramatically control costs, but with secure print we have eliminated the last hint of wastage by only printing documents when authorised users verify that they need them," said Stephen Arnold, CIO, Ernst & Young Australia.
Canon has alos introduced eCopy ShareScan OP (Open Platform) for MEAP, an application that enables organisations to scan and send paper documents directly to their document management systems, email, and other enterprise applications from the likes of Interwoven and Documentum.
eCopy turns MFDs into information hubs by integrating paper documents directly into automated business processes. It is simple to use, as customisable buttons are displayed on the MFDs touch-screen panel.
"Ten percent of our total revenue goes back into our R&D," said David Gradwell, national marketing manager, Canon Australia. "What is less known is that in our business systems division, 50 percent of our R&D budget is committed to developing software. Innovation such as MEAP is the result of that investment."
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