In a recent call with press and industry analysts, Xerox Corp. outlined the new corporate structure that the company rolled out this past January. The corporation is now aligned in two business units: a Services unit (managed print and document services, business process outsourcing and so on) and a Technology unit (the traditional Xerox printing/MFP device arm). But for resellers, perhaps the most interesting news to come out of the reorg is a dedicated operating group under the Technology umbrella specifically tasked with servicing the channel.
The new Channel Partner Operations group, headed by Douraid Zaghouani, has been created expressly to support Xerox’s channel partners—which account for almost 80 percent of the unit’s sales. “Now our reseller partners have a dedicated group within Xerox to support them, and help them grow and succeed,” said Zaghouani. “We are aiming to be the partner of choice for resellers.”
Part of the operating group’s mission will be to help channel partners differentiate themselves in the marketplace. How? By letting them offer products and services that are better than the competition, including unsurpassed A3 and A4 devices, as well as production print equipment. One recent example: Xerox opened up its world-class managed print services (MPS) infrastructure to the channel with the introduction of its Xerox Partner Print Services (XPPS) program late last year. Channel partners can also expect to see a larger investment in marketing support.
Partners can also expect a “significant transformation of this portion of the business,” Zaghouani promised, with “simpler, leaner, faster” being the mantra. “We want to make it easier for our partners to do business with us,” he explained. “Xerox will be an indirect company in this space,” Zaghouani concluded—not competing with partners, but supporting and enhancing their businesses.
