Fujitsu Bundles Play To Distributed Scanning In SMBs

Rather than shipping documents to a centralized location for ingestion by high-speed production scanners, enterprises are opting to have paper scanned at branch offices, which cuts shipping and production costs and saves time.

"What we're seeing is that a number of larger entities are trying to push the actual physical scanning out into the field where the paper is," said Randy Blevins, CEO of EDAC Systems, Fredericksburg, Va., a large imaging integrator for the federal government. "That puts the information on the desktop almost immediately."

That is one reason why Fujitsu this month began bundling Kofax Image Products' image-enhancing VirtualReScan software with six scanners spanning Fujitsu's product line from the low end to the high end. With VRS installed, companies don't need technicians trained to operate all the bells and whistles on high-end scanners, Blevins said. Even beginners can turn catsup-stained shipping documents and nearly blackened or misaligned faxes into OCR-readable images. "Even I can use it; don't tell my engineers, though," he said.

There is another side to the software. While VRS can automate the scanning process, accessing the software's advanced features is not an out-of-the-box experience. "The product does allow scanners to actually perform better, but the reality is that it does require some additional training," said Neal Fischer, Hershey Technologies, La Jolla, Calif.

For those who want it, Fujitsu is offering field service and support with the bundles.

Fischer also sees that as a bid by Fujitsu to generate more service revenue,an area that potentially treads into the domain of imaging VARs. "From our standpoint, there is a percentage of resellers out there that want to provide services and feel the manufacturers should stick to what they do best," he said.

There is another trend in play, though. Decentralized scanning is not the only driver behind Fujitsu's strategy. The imaging market, which continues to be a growth area, has been moving downstream from the enterprise to small and midsize businesses. "There are a lot of growth areas, not only the verticals, but across the horizontal areas," said Susan Moyse, an analyst for InfoTrends, Norwell, Mass.

That growth is drawing many new solution providers into the fold that are not necessarily imaging-focused but might want to sell Fujitsu services. "Our reseller community is growing by 50 or 60 a month, and we're not even trying. They're just coming to us," said Don McMahan, vice president of sales for Fujitsu's imaging products group, San Jose, Calif.

McMahan said many of Fujitsu's new partners are solution providers involved with Tech Data's TechSelect and Ingram Micro's VentureTech Network groups that are seeking out new opportunities. "We're finding broad acceptance of the technology," he said.

The growing market and distributed-scanning trend are also working in Kofax's favor.

While scanning vendors such as Kodak offer products similar to VRS for their own scanners, Kofax, Irvine, Calif., provides a third-party solution that works with all the manufacturer's products. "The scanner manufacturers would like to do it themselves, but people need something that transcends all the scanners," said Doug Rudolph, vice president of global sales for Kofax.

With Fujitu embracing VRS across its product line, Kofax is now hoping other OEMs will follow suit. Kofax, which introduced the technology five years ago as a hardware-based solution, currently sells VRS technology,which comes in several flavors,mostly through its channel of imaging integrators. But it would also like to see the technology embedded in as many scanners as possible. "We have been working on this for many years, and Fujitsu is the first one to embrace it," Rudolph said.

In a related announcement, Kofax last month made available the second release of its Ascent Ricochet software targeted at the distributed-scanning market. The browser-based software enables office workers to scan from their desks and have images displayed on their desktop for delivery into workflow processes.

The second version, tagged version 6.0 to align with the company's Ascent Capture 6.0 software, now fully supports VRS and can be used with all VRS-supported scanners, the company said. The new version also offers server-level authentication.

Enterprises first began adopting distributed scanning about 12 months ago, said Anthony Macciolila, vice president of marketing for Kofax. "I think we're climbing up the slope now," he said. "It's taking a little while for the VARs to get comfortable with it. They're realizing the selling points, the value-add and the opportunity."