Like many other vendors in the storage and infrastructure markets, behemoth EMC has  been expanding its portfolio by upping its play in the cloud. However, EMC isn’t allowing that to take its attention from its older and less hyped assets like Captiva. It seems the continued attention is paying off. EMC has revealed that most of the scanning industry has adopted the EMC Captiva Cloud Toolkit the company released last year for adding scanning functionality into web applications.

According to EMC, since releasing the toolkit late last year, scanner manufacturers and developers have been increasingly adopting the software. Adding scanning functionality can require working with lots of unfamiliar code. The toolkit lowers the learning curve and enables scanning from all document scanners and multi-function peripherals that support ISIS and Twain. Applications that utilize the toolkit work with all standard web browser platforms, including Windows Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome, and require no additional software or browser plugins to run.

Vendors from Brother and Cannon to Kodak and Panasonic are now using the toolkit. Other developers wishing to evaluate the toolkit can  download a free trial of the software development kit from EMC. The toolkit provides yet another example of how the cloud and constant connectivity are transforming even the most mundane activities.

Scanning is not the only area where updating legacy processes is benefiting EMC.  The company and its new partner Lenovo are also eagerly positioning themselves to take advantage of modernization in the Chinese market. The two plan on generating billions in storage and server sales in the burgeoning Chinese market.

Analysts and investors have been left in the dark when it comes to the more specific details on the new union between EMC and Lenovo.  The companies have disclosed they will collaborate on  marketing, sales and product development. Analysts are already speculating the pair could threaten rivals such as Hewlett-Packard and Cisco.