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Sydney, AUSTRALIA – 15 October 2024: Canon Oceania has today released a report revealing organisations across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) must consider print security as part of their overall comprehensive approach to cybersecurity. The report found 78% of organisations in ANZ have experienced at least one print security incident in the past two years, highlighting the importance of correctly addressing print and document management to reinforce cybersecurity infrastructure and avoid often overlooked vulnerabilities.
Canon Oceania’s Transforming Print and Document Management in Australia and New Zealand report, prepared by IDC Asia/Pacific, the global leader in market intelligence for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets, offers an in-depth analysis of the print landscape across ANZ. Based on insights from over 200 ANZ decision-makers across SMB, Enterprise, and Government organisations, using various photocopier brands, the report reveals not only a significant number of print security incidents, but a proactive shift by businesses towards strengthening this critical area.
Almost half of ANZ organisations surveyed (49%) plan to increase their spending on print and document cybersecurity in the next 12 months. This reflects a heightened awareness of cybersecurity risk and the need for comprehensive document security and data protection, particularly in the hybrid working environment. Examples of printer related security breaches include cyberattacks on printer firmware or hard drive and unauthorised access to print jobs with sensitive information.
As well as security, over the next 24 months, ANZ organisations are placing a priority on cost, compliance, cloud integration, and digitalisation when it comes to their print and document environments.
Despite a widespread push for a digital transformation across ANZ to keep up with global progress, only 24% of document workflows within corporate departments across the region are currently digitised. Instead, many ANZ organisations rely on printed documents to meet legal and regulatory requirements. As a result, businesses are missing out on the significant opportunities offered by document digitalisation, such as improved efficiency, enhanced compliance, and revenue growth. Positively, the report uncovered a change in this trend, as over the next two years ANZ businesses are planning to increase the digitalisation of document workflows by up to 40%.
The report also found that many ANZ businesses are currently missing out on the benefits of cloud printing solutions, with less than half (46%) adopting cloud in this area of their operations. Some of the challenges contributing to successful cloud deployment and ongoing management include concerns around connectivity, integration complexity and a lack of internal user adoption and training.
According to another whitepaper by IDC, cloud spending in Australia is expected to hit $22.4bn by 2026¹. In line with this, the report signposts the clear opportunity for businesses to overcome these challenges with expert partners to increase cloud integration and fully utilise its benefits. Of the businesses surveyed, 30% have indicated plans to deploy cloud-based printing across some, or all, of their devices over the next two years. As well as these key areas, the report also found that organisations are increasing their focus on the sustainability or environmental, social, and governance (ESG) capabilities of vendors. These trends reflect the ANZ region’s movement towards a more intelligent, sustainable, and digitally integrated print and document management environment.
Mike Murase, Senior Director, Sales & Support Group, Canon Oceania said, "While this research shows clear gaps in print and document workflows across ANZ business, leaders are seeing this as an opportunity to modernise and secure the way they work. While it’s not a change that will happen overnight, investment in this area and collaboration with service partners like Canon Oceania are key to those who want to make the necessary changes within their business. We support customers globally through these important decisions and resulting transition period with uniFLOW Online, a secure cloud-based print and scan management solution.”
Peter Kenny, Manager, Information Security, Canon Oceania said, "The report findings reflect the conversations we are having with customers as they start to look at their wider cybersecurity infrastructure and address vulnerabilities. The issue for a long time has been people not understanding the importance of print and document management as a key component of that overall security consideration and risk management. Common issues also include default printer passwords, unsecure print jobs, unsecure network connections and outdated firmware. For businesses, the first step is better understanding their current systems and then making the changes required not only to be more secure but also more efficient."
Looking ahead, Generative AI (GenAI) has the power to significantly impact how ANZ organisations manage their print and document environments with the ability to improve productivity across the board. Adoption in this is currently low (17%) however, businesses across many segments are aiming to increase their adoption of GenAI across their print and document workflows over the next two years; SMBs (46%), enterprise (45%) and government (33%).
For more information on the Transforming Print and Document Management in Australia and New Zealand report findings, please download a copy: Canon IDC Print Report
¹ IDC White Paper, Public Cloud Services Opportunities and Dividends to the Australian and New Zealand Economies, 2022
https://news.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/66/2023/04/IDC-WP_MSFT_FINAL_17.04.pdf
