A Win That's Crystal Clear

Xerox is definitely on the right track—the winning track—in the network color printers category of this year's Annual Report Card (ARC). Not only did Xerox sweep the product innovation, support and partnership subcategories, it also outscored category contenders Oki Data, Minolta, Hewlett-Packard and Lexmark by eight points, on average, for each of those subcategories, as well as 11 of the 15 criteria plus loyalty. Talk about impressive. From vendor to vendor, most ARC scores are separated by fewer than five points for the majority of ARC categories.

Of note, Xerox scored 11 points higher than No. 2 contender Oki Data for its Phaser models' compatibility and ease of integration, as well as for communication; 12 points higher for loyalty (28 points separate Xerox from Lexmark, in last place); and 10 points higher for marketing support. Xerox's loyalty score of 80, in fact, is among the highest overall aggregate ARC loyalty scores. Across the board, in fact, Xerox performed especially well when compared with the overall aggregate of ARC scores, scoring among the top three highest for richness of features/functionality (81), technical innovation (80), marketing support (74), partner portal (75) and communication (76). "At Xerox, we are serious about our commitment to the channel," says Rob Stewart, vice president of worldwide marketing for Xerox Office Channels Group. "We used feedback from last year's ARC to refine and improve our channel program. We are pleased that our partners recognize our commitment. And our scores in this year's ARC reflect the success of our partner program."

The rest of the category contenders, Oki Data (for its C-Series), Minolta (for its Magicolor line), Hewlett-Packard (for its color Laser Jet series) and Lexmark (for four C models), received average scores, coming within a five-point range of each other and close to the category average in all areas except partnership. That's where we witness a bit more diversity: Lexmark and HP received partnership-related scores in the 50s from their respective solution providers, well below average scores that range from 59 to 65 for the subcategory's criteria, which includes solution-provider program, communication and sales partnering. Clearly, those vendors have some work to do to improve relationships with their solution providers.