Mike Feldman, president of Xerox’s Large Enterprise Operations.
To hear a printing vendor like Xerox say it wants to help businesses print less is a bit of a head shaker, but that’s the intent behind a series of managed print tools and services that give enterprises greater insight into document management, productivity and printing costs.
Xerox is already a leader in the managed print services segment, providing printer maintenance and management, and automated consumables replenishment to enterprises and small businesses through direct and indirect channels.
The new tools and services combine existing managed print capabilities with document management, business process governance and IT outsourcing. The capabilities consolidation addresses the printing and workflow management needs of the increasingly mobile workforce.
“Work is no longer a physical place. It happens anytime, anywhere – causing both challenges and opportunities. Our next generation of managed print services helps clients take control of information while managing everyday concerns such as productivity, mobility, security and sustainability,” said Mike Feldman, president of Xerox’s Large Enterprise Operations.
In theory, these tools and services provide greater insights into types of printing, where printing is happening and the cost to the enterprise. The Xerox CompleteView Pro visual dashboard gives enterprises the intelligence required to consolidate printer flights, reduce overall printing and, consequently, reduce costs.
Xerox ramping up its managed print services capabilities has more to do with the decline of printer sales and continued slide of overall printed document volume. As mobile devices swamp the workplace and enterprise employees gravitate toward digital reading over printed forms, sales of printers and consumables decline. This trend is already hitting major print vendors, such as Hewlett-Packard Co. and Lexmark, which once lived large on their high-volume, high-margin printer businesses.
By enabling greater and more valuable managed print services, Xerox is acknowledging the steady decline in its printer business and the prospect of less corporate printing in the future. However, printing won’t go away, so services such as these will provide the company and its partners with replacement and, potentially, incremental revenue sources to offset the decline in traditional printer products.
