Mine has been quite a whirlwind year as the “new” editor-in-chief of The Cannata Report. After a frenetic fall travel schedule, I now am entering my eleventh month on the job. It is essential to pause, take a deep breath, and look back upon the year that was 2025. In this issue, we go beyond our 40th Annual Dealer Survey to discuss Q1 and Q2 ‘26 planning strategies and examine how dealerships can improve profitability by adding new products and services, such as e-signs and digital displays.
With the help of perceptive contributor Noel Ward, who has taken a deep dive into what was important this past year, we also present our “2026 WatchList.” The annual WatchList is our take on what’s what and who’s who in office technology’s dealer channel. We have organized this edition’s content into four sections:
How to best order “what and who to watch” is an interesting exercise because crossover is inevitable. Noteworthy people and companies often go hand in hand, for example, while technologies and products organically intertwine with “Trends.” Speaking of which, AI is trending, of course. ECI Software and Square 9 Softworks are among the myriad companies that introduced services related to artificial intelligence in 2025.
Distribution is a rising trend within the channel. Increasing numbers of dealerships and OEMs wish to focus on their core business and not incur equipment inventory/warehousing costs. We will write more about partners like Distribution Management, TD SYNNEX, and the overall distribution trend in 2026. Inkjet printing technological advancements, including textile print’s place (where OEMs Epson and Konica Minolta have made some moves), are another trend for dealers to keep eyes on.
Many of the usual players are listed: mainstay manufacturers Sharp, for example, along with HP, Kyocera, RISO, and relative newcomer Katun. Alphabetically, from ACDI, ConnectWise, and DocuWare to Intermedia and Xerox (Lexmark), read on to see who else made our list—and why. Lauren Hanna (Blue Technologies) and James Loffler (Loffler Companies) are among 20 executives highlighted in the People section.
Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office, Document Solutions Inc., Gordon Flesch Co., Impact Networking, Marco, POA, Pulse Technology, and several other dealers are mentioned on the WatchList. In Ohio, Woodhull LLC is an employee-owned dealership. We’ll be digging into the employee stock owner plan (ESOP) trend as well in the coming months. Meanwhile, from us to you and yours, Happy Holidays!
