Digital Business Drives New Workflow Opportunities

There's a lot of interest in re-engineering workflow processes, but little consensus in terms of who best to rely on to achieve that goal, according to findings of a global survey of 1,021 small and midsize businesses (SMBs) with revenue ranging from less than $6 million to more than $305 million. Just under a third (29 percent) expect to rely on resellers to conduct workflow assessments, compared with 22 percent for office equipment dealers, according to the study, conducted by Coleman Parkes Research on behalf of Xerox. But when it comes to acquiring workflow automation technology, the office equipment dealers dominate at 47 percent, followed by resellers at 37 percent. There's been tension between resellers and office equipment vendors for as long as anybody in the channel cares to remember. In fact, over the years, there have been more than a few mergers between resellers and office equipment dealers. Opportunities surrounding workflow engineering in the age of the digital business are on the upswing. Yet who in the channel will capitalize most on those opportunities remains to be seen. Here's a look at key study findings.