Seven Things VARs Should Know About Xerox

The New Xerox

Xerox has gone through some dramatic changes in the last couple years and more changes are coming. Here's a quick look at seven things VARs should know about what CEO Ursula Burns, pictured, described as "the new Xerox" for 2011 and beyond.

1. They Are A Services Company

Much has been made of Xerox's purchase of ACS and the fact that about half of the company's revenue now comes from services. CEO Ursula Burns expects the services percentage to continue to increase in coming years.

2. Going Global

More than 90 percent of ACS's revenue is in the U.S. and executives see big opportunity in Europe for services. The company said if it can capture just the same market share in Europe it has in the U.S., it means a $3 billion opportunity in Europe alone.

3. More Products For The Channel

Until last year, Xerox's offerings through VARs were limited to a small number of devices up to about 45 pages per minute. Since then the company has expanded that portfolio to almost any machine up to 60 pages per minute, including the 5700, 7500 and 9300 families of products.

4. MSPs Wanted

Xerox has made it clear that it is actively recruiting MSPs to sell its managed print services. The vendor believes that it's a part of the market that many MSPs don't touch but would be of interest if Xerox could help them enter the market with simple tools and little investment, such as the new eConcierge program, which automates the replenishment of supplies as a first-step into managed print.

"It's a brand new service we created for you to help you grow your business and get a more sticky relationship with customers," said Deb Koehler, Xerox director of North American Reseller Sales Business Platform.

5. BPO For SMB

While ACS focuses on providing business process outsourcing services to large enterprises, Xerox executives said aim to offer those services to SMB clients as well and plan to leverage the channel to do so. Details are still being worked out but now that ACS is fully integrated into Xerox, those plans are now being formulated, said vice president of North American channel operations at Xerox. "I think that ACS is great opportunity for this group. I'd love to scale some solutions to this group," Gillam said.

6. Color Is Affordable

Xerox estimates that the number of pages printed in black and white will decline 7 percent this year, while the number of color pages will increase 9 percent, thanks to the shrinking delta between monochrome and color. Color revenue now accounts for 45 percent of all product-related revenue and CEO Ursula Burns expects color to surpass monochrome. "The price per page continues to decline and the gap continues to narrow. Pages are declining in total but the big shift toward color is happening as the cost per page comes down," Burns said.

7. Print From Anywhere

Xerox's new mobile print solution allows you to e-mail a document to a Xerox account. Within 30 seconds, you'll receive a reply with a six-digit code that you can enter into any mobile print-enabled device from Xerox to print the document, according to Jim Rise, president of Xerox North American Reseller Sales.

/**/ /**/"If you're running around a building you can just punch in a code and out comes the pages. For airport lounges, campuses [and] hospitals it's a great solution," Rise said.