‘Xerox focus for FY14 will continue to be SMBs’

Vipin Tuteja: We have three verticals that we predominantly operate in:

* One is the legacy Xerox business which is focused on innovation & technology – the areas of digital printing,office printers & MFD’s; the company has huge investments in R&D,multiple patents

* The second part of the business is our Services portfolio- document related services,MPS,Document Outsourcing Services,back office,mail room,couriers,retrieval,storage,indexing. A lot of that is becoming big right now this is called Document Management Services where Xerox has ventured about a decade back

* Third business is ACS -‘Xerox Services’ which is pure play BPO,ITO,transportation outsourcing. In this domain- the traditional outsourcing space all our key customer are in the West. In India,we have 10,000 people in that business working out of Bangalore,Kochi & Gurgaon

India is a growth market for all these three businesses. Though the traditional printing business is flat globally but in India it is growing steadily. The document outsourcing business is growing rapidly by 25% – 30% and the BPO business is also showing healthy double digit growth. So,for our focus in India,we look at the first two verticals for domestic businesses to serve Indian customers. The third one is more like a service delivery hub for the western markets.

Xerox is also spearheading innovation through its Xerox Research Centre that is relevant to the local needs but can be adopted for many other developing as well as developed nations. The centre’s goal is to help Xerox achieve greater economies of scale and scope in innovation for both emerging as well as developed markets.

Q. How important is SMB focus to the Xerox business? What are your SMB offerings?

VT: Xerox is focused on the SMB segment and the company is bullish about strengthening its position in this segment. According to research,90% SMBs are based in the top 200 Tier II and Tier III cities and hence it becomes very essential to tap these cities. As a result,Xerox has developed an aggressive Go-to-Market strategy for tapping this segment and reaching out to a larger group of audience. We have already covered the top 200 cities through our channel partners and 40-45% of our businesses come from SMB’s.

Talking about the printing requirements of small and medium businesses,they are very different to large enterprises. They are looking for high quality printers at affordable price points to address their needs and our new range of printers are especially designed keeping that in mind. Streamlined performance,ease of use and compact design make our printers attractive for the SMB segment. We recently launched products in A3 and A4 categories – Workcentre 5019/5021 in the A3 category and Phaser 3040 and Workcentre 3045 in the A4 category for the SMB market.

3) What are your strategies in SMB space? How are you gearing up for FY2014?

VT: Our strategies have always been aligned to the needs and demands of our customers. SMBs thrive on factors like competitive pricing and high quality outputs for selecting a right printer. The total cost of ownership such as subsequent running and supplies cost are also critical. Though buying decisions primarily revolve around Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and the value a printer offers,reliability/serviceability of the machine is also a big ask put forward by SMEs. A service support enables an organization to achieve key business objectives,solve critical problems and develop capabilities to target future opportunities. Service support provides the competitive advantage that is crucial for any organization ability to target strategic growth opportunities.

Our focus for FY14 will continue to be SMBs and we will further look at:

* Consolidation of existing channel base and equip them with tools to provide apt document related consultancy to customers along with strong after sales service

* Focus on adoption of A3 MFD’s and solutions with Connectkey controller that offers enhanced security,can print from mobile,enables BYOD and is aptly suited for the mobile worker of today

We will continue to focus on the SMB segment in FY2014 and constantly innovate and develop products to meet the demands of the market segment.

Q. What are your main concerns regarding this space?

VT:The SMB market has a lot of potential however it is largely scattered across the country. Though we reach out to over 90% of them in top 200 cities however creating awareness on numerous document automation and management possibilities is still a challenge. Further we would look at demand for solutions and services as against standalone devices that provides advantages in terms of cost,quality of prints and TCO. We understand these challenges and are well positioned to address them in 2014.

Q Which new Xerox products can the Indian market hope to see next year?

We constantly upgrade and update our product portfolio according to the needs and demands of our customers. This year we launched Xerox ConnectKey enabled devices for Enterprise and SME’s and we expect increased demand of these devices in next year too. ConnectKey is the new operating system and software for Xerox multifunction printers (MFPs).

It is designed for one purpose: to simplify the way work gets done. ConnectKey MFPs offer flexibility,simplicity and security – all of which allows businesses to focus more on what matters most: Real Business. The ConnectKey MFPs do much more than print,scan,fax and copy. One can print from just about any device from anywhere. Documents can be scanned directly to cloud services like Google Drive,Evernote,Office 365 for storage and collaboration – right from the MFP touch screen. The new common user interface also allows anyone in the workforce to easily connect into the company’s business processes. For IT professionals,this common user interface as well as embedded security protection from McAfee allows MFPs to be managed and protected as easily as the rest of the network. The ConnectKey MFP platform comes with an open API system. That means sales channel partners,systems integrators and resellers can develop applications and embed them on the MFP with no additional software requirements.

Q: What is your overall market outlook? What would be your focus areas for FY2014?

VT: 2013 has been a year of change for Xerox,with new innovations,technologies and solutions that streamline business processes for enterprises. We consolidated our partner base to top 200 cities and plan to consolidate them in 2014 with focus on the SMB market segment. But we at Xerox believe that innovation is an environmental (business) constant that forms the foundation for the successes of the future,hence we look forward to a great 2014 that brings forward new innovations at Xerox in the field of Document Management Services,Management Print Services,MFD’s that addresses industry trends like Big Data,BYOD and Cloud Computing that form the circumference of today’s technology-driven enterprise solutions.

Xerox continues its journey as the world’s leading enterprise for business process and document management. Our focus on services has produced good results for us and over 50 percent of our global revenue comes from the services business. As part of the Go to Market strategy for 2014 we have a clear focus on executing our “Services-led,Technology-driven” approach. We will continue to strengthen & accelerate our services business with focus on the fast growing verticals of Financial Services and Telecom.

With our strong position in the rapidly growing services,the widest portfolio in office documentation and digital production systems in the industry along with strengthened channel operations,Xerox India is poised for a further strong growth in 2014 and beyond.