Xerox Pledges More Sales, New Markets For Partners With Biggest Product Launch In Company's History

Xerox said its channel partners can boost stickiness with clients and generate more recurring revenue by leveraging the company's 29 new printers and multifunction devices the company unveiled Wednesday.

This is Xerox’s first major product launch since completing the spinoff of its $6.7 billion business process services division -- which was renamed Conduent – at the start of the year.

The Norwalk, Conn.-based vendor said personalized workflows, one-touch access to the cloud and multi-layered security features will increase margins and ease of sale for partners.

"Providing our channel partners … with the right combination of technology, software and services to grow their businesses is among the biggest priorities for Xerox," Mike Feldman, Xerox's president of North American operations, said in a statement. "This launch underscores our commitment to R&D, product delivery and channel support that will lead to the long-term success of our partners."

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Solution providers can, for instance, jumpstart recurring revenue by developing and selling custom applications through the Xerox App Gallery, according to the company. Apps created by channel partners can streamline tasks such as the filing of patient records, real estate contract management and retail invoicing into fewer, faster steps, Xerox said.

Morris Business Solutions has leveraged Xerox's channel partner program to grow their technology portfolio and expand into new markets, according to Xerox. In fact, the Greenville, S.C.-based Xerox partner is the company's fastest growing dealer nationally.

"Our customers are demanding connected workplace technology that's smart, secure, mobile and cloud-enabled," Chris Morris, Morris Business Solutions' owner, said in the Xerox statement. "These devices give me exactly what I need to sell, and exactly what my clients need to excel."

The largest product launch in Xerox's 110-year history includes a variety of sizes, speeds and capabilities to match the needs of both small- and medium-sized businesses as well as large enterprises. The new products include 19 VersaLink printers and multifunction devices that are designed for small workgroups, according to Xerox, and 10 AltaLink multifunction printers that are designed for larger workgroups or print volume needs.

"The process of getting work done has moved from the desktop to your pocket," Xerox CEO Jeff Jacobson said in a statement. "It's very personal, and we've built a portfolio of true workplace assistants tightly connected to the mobile and cloud technology environment that accommodates this evolution."

The product launch features 17 larger, freestanding A3 printers and 12 smaller, tabletop A4 printers with speeds of up to 90 pages per minute, Xerox said. Information flows easily from Xerox's new printing devices to cloud repositories like Dropbox, Office 365 or Google Drive, according to the company, and mobile workers can print wirelessly from any computing device.

Xerox's new printing devices offer protection from unauthorized access to devices, keep confidential communication and information safe from encryption and image overwrite, audit device access attempts, and protect both data and devices from malicious intent, the company said. The 10 AltaLink multifunctional printers feature an added layer of security thanks to Xerox's partnership with McAfee.

All 29 products share a similar, tablet-like touchscreen user interface that can be personalized for different work environments or individual users, the company said. The similar interface, features and functionality across the fleet will lift sales and service margins by enabling solution providers to provide a more consistent user experience, according to the company.

Xerox's engineers have also designed ways for individuals to use multifunction printers to streamline daily office processes such as scanning a document to email, saving the file, and uploading it to a cloud storage service such as Dropbox by handling those tasks in fewer steps, the company said.

According to Xerox, this makes it possible for the company to address specific needs of customers such as translating documents, completing a loan application or scanning directly to a client folder in the cloud with a tap or swipe on a smartphone.

Xerox said its toolkit enables users to customize printers and multifunction devices in a way that's similar to how individuals use smartphones or other mobile devices to meet their personal needs. The new Xerox devices feature the familiar iOS or Android interface, according to the company.

"As the Internet of Things expands, the physical and digital worlds move closer together," Steve Hoover, Xerox's chief technology officer, said in a statement. "Xerox innovations help office workers navigate by integrating their devices with the app world, creating an 'open app ecosystem' that makes it easier for workers to design how to best get their work done."

Michael Kirby, manager of Xerox's controller development group, said the company essentially re-imagined the user interface for an office portfolio. The interface attempts to leverage the features of smartphones and tablets that have become so familiar to users that they're taken for granted.

The company said channel partners can maximize revenue with this launch by selling a full line of workplace technologies, including light production multifunction printers, managed print services and workflow automation solutions. The 29 devices will be available worldwide in the second quarter, according to Xerox.

The company said that global portable manufacturing company Climax has leveraged the new Xerox devices because its employees need simple, secure and often on-the-go access to digital files for printing, sharing and storing.

"Xerox's VersaLink C405 devices fit perfectly in our highly-secure, highly-mobile work environment," David Richardson, network administrator for the Newberg, Ore.-based company, said in the Xerox statement. "Our engineers only work on the most complex manufacturing and repair jobs, so it's critical that our workflows are as streamlined as possible."