Document Imaging Manufacturers Address Ever-Evolving Education Sector

Who expected the face of education to change overnight? But in March 2020, it did. And while many aspects of K-12 and higher education have returned to normal, some practices put in place to weather the pandemic crisis will stay with us for many years to come.

This theme is among those explored in Market Insights: Education Market Offerings/Expertise, a new Keypoint Intelligence report that looks at tech trends in education and reviews the ways in which leading document imaging manufacturers are accommodating these shifts.

The report was tied to a North American study in which we invited all leading document imaging manufacturers serving the education market to complete a questionnaire detailing their relevant offerings in key areas:

• Vision and market leadership
• MFP hardware
• Non-print hardware
• Software
• Professional services
• Security
• Safety and wellness

Keypoint analysts evaluated the participants on the different areas covered. As noted in this September press release, HP, Konica Minolta, and Xerox all stood out in the study—earning Buyers Lab (BLI) 2021-2022 PaceSetter Awards in Education.

Here’s a slice of interesting things these companies are doing:

• HP offers learning bundles containing laptops, 3D design software, and other applications that foster creative thinking.

• For physical security, Konica Minolta provides Mobotix video surveillance technology, the School Gate Guardian visitor management system, Classroom Guardian door barriers, and Secure Access (powered by Forxai) that allows, teachers, students, and designated others to open doors with facial recognition.

• Xerox offers a unique and robust mix of education-centric ConnectKey MFP-resident apps that help boost productivity, convenience, and quality in education settings.

One thing that’s particularly fascinating about the education sector is that many studies show the benefits of print for students—especially younger students—for digesting, understanding, and remembering information (we explored this concept in a WhatTheyThink article as well as a Keypoint Intelligence article and podcast earlier this year).

This notion is a win for print manufacturers and vendors. At the same time, we can’t deny the power that digital and cloud-based technologies (including conferencing and communication platforms) are having on transforming K-12 and higher education settings—especially given the way in which we have interacted with these solutions during the pandemic.

While the impact of the pandemic is slowly diminishing, we are continuing to rely on these new technologies in many ways. Fortunately, our document imaging friends, equipped with education experts on staff to stay abreast of changing requirements, recognize the irreversible changes that have occurred.

To balance out their print divisions (in which many developments continue to occur), they are investing in innovative technologies that address changing needs in areas like educational software, digital whiteboards, 3D printing, physical security, and augmented/virtual reality—not to mention the services that may be desired around these.

We look forward to seeing what other interesting solutions these companies will come up with.

Subscribers to our Office CompleteView service can log in to the InfoCenter to view the full report referenced in this blog, along with other Market Insights Reports. If you’re not a subscriber, just send us an email at sales@keypointintelligence.com for more info.