Ensuring flexible workflows through print in the public sector
Across the UK Government and other institutions in the public sector, legacy IT systems remain a big problem. Using outdated technology can not only cause errors or failure to deliver services, but also serious risks when it comes to the security of confidential information and ultimately, the reputation of established organisations.
Print continues to play a crucial part in digital infrastructures across the public sector, with the ability to impact long-term productivity, success and resilience. In fact, according to Quocirca, 49% of public sector organisations experienced data losses in 2023 due to unsecure printing.
In order to achieve its ambitious priorities efficiently and securely – from decarbonising the economy to Net Zero and Levelling Up the UK in terms of equal opportunity – the Government must ensure that legacy IT, including print ecosystems, are replaced with modern devices and software.
The importance of bridging digital and physical workflows
Despite ongoing debates about paperless offices, the reality is that organisations still require paper-based documentation, especially as more employees today flex between different work environments. IT decision makers within the public sector must recognise that an efficient modern workstream is one that allows employees to access any type of document, whether in paper or digital form, wherever they need.
Therefore, it’s important that Government organisations look to manage both digital and physical document workflows during their transformation journeys. Thankfully, this balance is not something they have to navigate alone, with many print vendors observing the changes in working trends and adjusting their product offerings to meet demand.
While legacy printing systems are often slow and hard to use, smart multi-function printers (MFPs) on the market today can help achieve maximum productivity with advanced print and scanning capabilities. Integrated with cloud connectivity, documents can be securely accessed from any location. Investing in reliable MFPs with cutting-edge technology will enable teams to work in a more streamlined and efficient way, reducing duplicated work and automating manual processes.
How is Canon supporting public sector organisations?
Managing print infrastructures can be resource heavy and time consuming for organisations. Beyond hardware, vendors should offer modular and scalable services to manage devices and supporting software. Canon’s Managed Print Services (MPS) give organisations control of their entire print environment, including device maintenance, reviews and analyses, Above all, MPS provide improved security, with a single point of contact to take ownership of issues and escalations.
Canon’s cloud-based software solution uniFLOW Online offers a single platform that integrates seamlessly into multi-vendor, mixed fleet environments. It offers secure printing, scanning and device management - wherever you are. The introduction of uniFLOW Online has been a significant breakthrough for us at Canon and has further strengthened our offering for the public sector. It has received a Buyers Lab (BLI) 2024 Pick Award for Outstanding Cloud Output Management Solution from for six consecutive years.
Fife Council has worked with Canon for over a decade to achieve significant efficiencies in their print and document management strategy. The partnership is built on collaboration, trust, and clearly defined goals, with Canon providing technology, services, best practice, and inspiration, that supports Fife in delivering their citizen and employee centric services.
Only when Government organisations replace legacy systems and bridge the gap between physical and digital document workflows can they create a future-proof working environment that is flexible, efficient and secure.
Learn more: https://www.canon.co.uk/centralgov/
Heather Cover-Kus
Heather is Head of Central Government Programme at techUK, working to represent the supplier community of tech products and services to Central Government.
Ellie Huckle
Ellie joined techUK in March 2018 as a Programme Assistant to the Public Sector team and now works as a Programme Manager for the Central Government Programme.
Annie Collings
Annie joined techUK as the Programme Manager for Cyber Security and Central Government in September 2023.
Austin Earl
Austin joined techUK’s Central Government team in March 2024 to launch a workstream within education and edtech.
Ella Gago-Brookes
Ella joined techUK in November 2023 as a Markets Team Assistant, supporting the Justice and Emergency Services, Central Government and Financial Services Programmes.
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