LAS VEGAS--Setting a new standard for delivering managed print services to regional and global customers, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital document imaging and advanced office solutions, today launched Canon Managed Document Services (Canon MDS), a new unified, global initiative for outsourced print and document management services.

In concert with Canon Inc.'s recent global announcement consisting of a standard service menu and methodology, Canon MDS provides the infrastructure, tools and support to serve small to enterprise offices and CRD environments on a global scale, while also serving the needs of customers with a local geography. Based on a common menu of tools and services, the Canon MDS offering evaluates a customer's needs and ensures continuous improvements through a five- phased approach, including:

1. Discover and Analyze

2. Design

3. Deploy and Transition

4. Support and Manage

5. Evaluate and Review

According to the Rob Sethre, senior analyst, the Photizo Group, a managed print services research firm, "MPS is the fastest growing segment of the imaging industry, growing at a compound annual rate of 30 percent. Although historically MPS has been targeted to mainly large accounts, Photizo anticipates that MPS will become increasingly popular with small- and medium-sized enterprises, thereby putting dealers who offer these services in excellent position to capture a larger share of customer opportunities."

As small- and medium-sized business customers look to take advantage of managed services models, Canon MDS empowers its network of authorized dealers to provide document services by packaging sophisticated tools and technologies that can easily be leveraged in customer deployments. In the U.S., Canon has been successfully delivering managed print services to many top-tier organizations in the region for several years through its Canon Business Solutions subsidiary. Now with a common menu, Canon can offer its global customers a consistent approach and range of services regardless of their location.

"Today as customers increasingly recognize the monetary and workplace efficiency benefits of migrating to an outsourced solution, customers and dealers alike are looking to print manufacturers to deliver the complete print and document workflow solutions that will help reduce total cost of ownership and improve overall efficiency," said Sam Yoshida, vice president and general manager, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A. "This new Canon MDS offering, in combination with the technological innovations available with our products, such as the new imageRUNNER ADVANCE Series, will allow our customers and sales channels to tap into a single-point-of-contact to utilize and leverage the regional and global expertise and resources of Canon like never before for outsourced services."

The Canon MDS offering leverages several innovative technologies and tools that uniquely combine Canon developed device functions, software solutions and professional services capabilities. They include:

    * imageRUNNER ADVANCE Content Delivery System, which offers capabilities for remote services, including remote installation of imageRUNNER ADVANCE firmware updates, embedded software options and MEAP applications
    * imageWARE Enterprise Management Console with Plug-ins, which can be used for on-site enterprise device management, customer-managed meter collection and service alerts delivery
    * imageWARE Remote, which enables the automatic submission of meter data and service alerts for pre-emptive support and consumables fulfillment, e-Billing functionality and integration with leading third-party Dealer ERP systems, such as OMD and e-automate
    * uniFLOW Output Manager is an intelligent and highly scalable print management software suite with modules for Universal Secure Printing, Rules-Based Routing, Authentication, Desktop Accounting and Print Center Management
    * Canon U.S.A. Professional Services brings the expertise to design and implement managed document services, from analyzing a customer's print environment and developing new designs to reporting results and identifying areas for future improvements
    * Canon MDS Knowledge Portal provides a secure Web site for business development and support, including business plans, training modules, best practices, white papers, case studies, industry analysis and more

The Canon MDS initiative will provide the framework and know-how required for Canon and its channel partners to effectively deliver managed services to clients. Based upon this introduction, Canon intends to capture a larger share of the growing market for outsourced document related services.