Xerox Corp.'s recent acquisition of Tektronix Inc. left some ChannelWeb readers speculating about the combined company's ability to adequately service the needs of the channel. Resellers used the Computer Reseller News Talk Back bulletin board to complain that Xerox and Tektronix are not doing enough to ensure profitable printer sales as margins continue to drop.

"Over the years, Tektronix has [offered a] fine product, but Tektronix has continually eroded profit margins by overexpanding the number of dealers and spending much time developing Web availability," VAR James S. Martin posted on the Talk Back board.

Added reader James Ferro: "Xerox can learn much from the sales and marketing departments of Tektronix. Will Xerox utilize Tektronix's printer division properly? I just don't think so."

But Iburg told ChannelWeb the company will indeed work to strengthen programs for resellers and VARs.

He said that Xerox, having recently combined the Tektronix printer products with its own, is currently evaluating ways to push its channel programs forward. He welcomed input from resellers.

"Over the next 100 days, we will be working to define our strategy," Iburg said. "We'll be asking questions like, what are the changes business resellers face? What do they need to be successful? We know all our channel partners are under significant pressure."

Iburg said resellers can send comments to his e-mail at chris.iburg@opbu.xerox.com.

In the meantime, he said, Tektronix will continue to offer its exclusive program for VARs, called ColorRich.

Responding to the post from James S. Martin, he said: "ColorRich is available only for this type of reseller, who will make a substantial commitment to training and demo capacity. We give them rebates of up to 6 percent in volume because we recognize the investment they need to make to sell products like this on a significant basis."

Iburg stressed that ColorRich is only available to this type of VAR. "We recognize their need to earn margins," he said. "This scenario is only available to VARs; it is not available to large resellers, online resellers and mail-order resellers."

And although Iburg promised Tektronix will continue to evolve its ColorRich program VARs, he said large-volume accounts will also be a key focus.

"There are other channels that some customers prefer to buy from,mail order and the Internet reseller,and we need to be in all those channels," he said. "We are committed to all channel partners and their success. We try to create a level playing field as much as we can."