We have relaunched: What's new at ZDNet Asia?

Canon may follow Xerox's BPO plunge

Summary

Singapore execs say Canon "open" to strengthening partnerships and acquisitions, following rival Xerox's buy of U.S. business process outsourcing firm.

Events

Microsoft MSDN/Developer Event
25 Mar 2010

One Marina Boulevard, Microsoft Singapore

IT Architect Regional Conference Singapore 2010
20 - 21 Apr 2010

Singapore Management University, Singapore

The Internet Show 2010
21-22 Apr 2010

Suntec Singapore

SINGAPORE--Canon is "open" to opportunities to acquire suitable business process outsourcing (BPO) companies, as well as to strengthen partnerships to boost its imaging business, according to senior executives based here.

Alan Chng, South and Southeast Asia vice president of Canon's business imaging solutions, noted during a media gathering here Wednesday that the Japanese company "has intentions" to make market moves similar to its rivals in order to gain entry to the BPO market.

Last month, competitor Xerox announced it would acquire BPO player Affiliate Computer Services for US$6.4 billion.

"Definitely, it's time for us to go into this area," said Chng, adding that candidates suitable for acquisition could be businesses in Asia that have synergies with Canon.

Lim Kok Hin, Singapore senior director and general manager of Canon's business imaging solutions and business solutions, added that the company may also strengthen or expand its partnerships to include such services in its portfolio. "At the moment it looks like we're wide open to [both] options," he said.

Customers, explained Lim, often do not expect a single company to do able to do everything, and are "comfortable enough" to approach Canon as a "turnkey operator".

The drive toward a "solutions" approach, or packaging software and services along with hardware, has been intensified over the last few years as companies were no longer interested in "buying a box". Instead, Lim said, they want to solve business problems. For instance, Canon recently worked with a large tour operator in Singapore to implement on-demand printing based on personalized customer itineraries. The initiative helped minimize wastage as it eliminates the need to store as well as produce standard travel brochures in bulk.

As part of its shift toward "solutions" rather than device sales, Canon today also officially unveiled a free audit service, where it provides a "health screen" of a customer's imaging environment, said Chng. The company has so far conducted an audit of its own office premises in Singapore, as well as a few other companies in the island-state. Canon will continue to expand the service to other markets in the region, he added.

Talkback

Add your opinion

In order to post a comment, you need to be registered. (Sign In or register below)

Post your comment
Transform your business interactions with real-time voice, video and telepresence solutions.
Tech Vendor: Cisco

ZDNet Asia Live

RT @mistertechblog: I wrote about Nexus One and Touchdown, desktop dock, Bluetooth/USB tethering, ebooks here: http://bit.ly/bRdzx0

58 minutes ago by yklee13 on topsy

Read my blog post on getting the most from your Nexus One: http://www.zdnetasia.com/blogs/m...

Data Centre Operator (Fresh Graduates Welcome to Apply) in ... http://bit.ly/bagYuu

1 hour 28 minutes ago by intmasterfeed on topsy

#Cisco #Cloud Cloud on ZDNet Asia: Aussie university joins Cisco cloud ยท Early-adopter criminals embrace cloud... http://bit.ly/d93C8S #TCN

2 hours 30 minutes ago by thetechgang on topsy

www.3w.com.au has seen it's outsourced IT Contracting Business in Manila grow at 4 times the rate of its traditional Australian Based...

9 hours 9 minutes ago by brucemills on Companies' outsourcing spend to increase

RT @3wconsulting: Whitepaper from http://3W.com.au "Outsourcing Your IT Requirements to Philippines" now on @zdnetaustralia & @zdnetasia http://ow.ly/1oY9f

Whitepaper from http://3W.com.au "Outsourcing Your IT Requirements to Philippines" now on @zdnetaustralia & @zdnetasia http://ow.ly/1oYbA

Whitepaper from http://3W.com.au "Outsourcing Your IT Requirements to Philippines" now on @zdnetaustralia & @zdnetasia http://ow.ly/1oYbz

Zdnetasia.com Estimated Worth $178,365 USD. Daily Ad Revenue:$244 USD, Daily Views:81,445 Pages... - http://www.haplog.com/www.zdneta...

recently estimated website net worth of zdnetasia.com - http://www.haplog.com/www.zdneta...

19 hours 1 minute ago by haplog on topsy

When I create an event, I click on an approximate time during the day when I want the event to occur, then I click "edit event detail...

1 day 38 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Google Calendar gets 'smart' rescheduling

ipads break alott i had one it broke three times in the month i had it so i got rid of the damn thing id just go for the laptop Top Grade...

1 day 39 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Report: 'Hundreds of thousands' of iPad preorders

There are a number of websites that still require Internet Explorer to view and IE for Mac Stinks (it is really ies4osx which is the Wind...

1 day 41 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Microsoft: Only minor tweaks in Windows 7 SP1

The receivers don't transmit back to the satellite. Unless there is a phone line attached to the receiver, they don't have any wa...

1 day 44 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Apple to join the geolocation craze?

"Lead Cognos BI Developer Insurance - Jobs - ZDNet Asia" http://bit.ly/bRcxOG

1 day 39 minutes ago by rhrcognos on topsy

whatever little understanding I have we 'll only progress toward end of the world if we use HPCs to lenthen life of human being. Huma...

1 day 50 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on High computing promises elixir of life

Thanks for the knowledgeable article on SDDs. Allas...when all this reasearch will happen in Indian Universities. Hope the new bill on Fo...

1 day 3 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on APAC HPC users eye solid-state drives

It was a good article. This brings a good opportunity for Indian IT firms to come up with new solutions in this field. HPC can become a b...

1 day 22 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on High computing most-wanted job in Asia

COL KR DHARMADHIKARY(RETD) its very late to reply the link, but if it is still alive and looking for opportunity, i would like to know th...

2 days 19 minutes ago by deb021280 on Education takes off in rural India, helped by PCs

It was just a matter of time until google was marginalised anyway. I'm afraid this will be forgotten in China very quickly. Still, it...

2 days 24 minutes ago by robinsmith on Report: Google to leave China on April 10

High performance computing (HPC) most-wanted job in Asia http://bit.ly/9vFC3i (via @zdnetasia) #singapore

He doesn't care if her shoes are of glass, All he wants to see is a huge rack and nice a*s. Sleeping beauty's not awoken by true ...

2 days 53 minutes ago by warlowdavies on One pair of 3D glasses to rule them all

RT @zdnetasia: EMC COO, Pat Gelsinger, on bridging gaps in the organization and its cloud ambitions in Asia. (cont) http://tl.gd/i5jjd

EMC COO, Pat Gelsinger, on bridging gaps in the organization and its cloud ambitions in Asia. http://bit.ly/9etOZW

Asian SMBs need to pay more attention to disaster recovery planning http://bit.ly/bDet08 via @zdnetasia

Asian SMBs need to pay more attention to disaster recovery planning http://bit.ly/bDet08

[TECH] URL Shorteners slow Web redirection. - http://bit.ly/bySnWK @zdnetasia

URL shorteners are great but they can slow web redirection & you pray it would never go down http://bit.ly/bySnWK via @zdnetasia

URL shorteners slow Web redirection. http://bit.ly/bySnWK

Chinese agencies cry foul over Google. http://bit.ly/by6rwV

all of sg's isps have been practising compulsory invisible proxy for all home subscribers at their backend since many years back alre...

3 days 3 minutes ago by melvinchia on Web filters mean bad news for business

it is not to good for china.
Proactol

3 days 48 minutes ago by nathonastle on Chinese ad partners beg Google for information

Very good explanation of JMX

4 days 53 minutes ago by Babith B on Managing applications with JMX

The reaction to a report issued Tuesday by Flurry Analytics managed to completely overlook some interesting news--the Android-based Motorola Droid outsold the original iPhone over the same period of time following their respective launches--to focus instead on the sales numbers for the Nexus One.

4 days 56 minutes ago by lonemavericks on diggs

Another ZTE story....

4 days 58 minutes ago by Moderate Your Greed on Philippines opens bid for final 3G license