platform Quip, allow branded and customized Dropbox folders inside Salesforce Commerce and Marketing Clouds, and make Quip documents available within Dropbox. The integration will allow users on either side of the corporate stack to access, share, and edit content in the user interface of their choice. Then, there’s Laserfiche who has long described itself as a provider of enterprise content management (ECM) software. However, its portfolio has evolved into a robust set of content-centric workflow services, including capture, electronic forms, business process management/workflow, analytics and reporting, digital signatures, and collaborative tools using Laserfiche Discussions, in addition to its document management and records management capabilities. Announced at their annual Empower conference, their latest product update, Laserfiche 10.3, provides a broad range of enhancements that continue this evolution. Although initially offered as an on-premises solution, Laserfiche is making significant portions of its functionality available as a public cloud service called Laserfiche Cloud, hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS). In fact, many new features are being architected
for the cloud first, with later migration to the on-premises solution. An enhancement of note is new functionality in the Laserfiche Mobile Server and apps for iOS, Android, and Windows that provide the ability to associate a location with a document and to search for documents by referencing location data. The search can include keywords and can specify a radius around a specific location (or “current location”). For the long term, Laserfiche will be migrating its solutions to an overarching content-centric workflow ecosystem, encompassing content services, business process/workflow management, case management, robotic process automation (RPA), and mobility. The ecosystem will offer users an enhanced, unified experience, including the capability to access all features from one site and the ability to search across all applications. IDC applauds this platform approach, as it supports a strategy for the development of purpose-built applications by users and partners. In February, Canon Solutions America (CSA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A. Inc., announced two additions to its security portfolio. The first was an alliance with Agile Cybersecurity Solutions (ACS) who will provide training, guidance, assessments, penetration testing, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) preparation, incident response, and other consulting services to CSA customers. The second was news of its technology partnership with the Palo Alto company Vera, enabling CSA customers to protect documents and control access to sensitive information both within and outside an organization’s firewall. Canon and CSA recognize the need to generate new revenue opportunities beyond those associated with the printed page for sustained growth and differentiation. Many of those opportunities lie with helping their customers digitize and manage enterprise content and with automating and transforming content-centric workflows. Comprehensive security and regulatory compliance must be a component of
all these activities. The alliances with ACS and Vera extend secure control beyond the device and past organizational boundaries. Finally, at the end of January, Xerox announced a merger with Fuji Xerox, with Fujifilm as the majority owner of the new company. The companies have had a long-standing relationship, going back to the early 1960s. In fact, the established Fuji Xerox is a 75:25 joint venture between Fujifilm and Xerox. The combined company will maintain the “Fuji Xerox” and “Xerox” brands within their respective operating regions. It will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (XRX) and will have dual headquarters—Xerox’s current Norwalk, Connecticut location and Fuji Xerox’s established Tokyo, Japan location. The deal is slated to be completed in the second half of 2018, subject to customary conditions, regulatory, and shareholder approval. Xerox management concluded (and continues to maintain) that the merger option is the best way to create value for its shareholders. However, activist shareholders, including Carl Icahn, have been making public comments to voice displeasure with the company’s direction. IDC sees some positive aspects of the merger announcement: The resulting Fuji Xerox looks impressive from a global scale and research and development perspective. The new company should have a reduced reliance on outside suppliers and better utilize internal resources for product development, leading to more price-competitive products. The combined company will also be better able to share software assets, solutions expertise, and best practices globally—all good news for customers, especially those with global and/or multi-national footprints. O
HOLLY MUSCOLINO is the Research Vice President of the Content Technologies and Document Workflow group at IDC and is responsible for research related to enterprise content management, including records management and case management. Follow Holly on Twitter @hmuscolino or visit www.idc.com.
DOCUMENTmedia.com spring.2018
27