Last month, Xerox held a briefing for industry analysts on its service offerings. A key takeaway from this event is that Xerox is re-positioning its MPS brand to “intelligent workplace services.”
Intelligent workplace services are geared toward improving the customer experience, as well as enhancing how employees get more work done. This moves Xerox beyond managing print to helping clients manage their larger workplace. According to Joanne Collins Smee, chief commercial officer at Xerox, “There is a significant opportunity for our clients to automate the inbound and outbound communications, extract value from ingested data and streamline business processes to unlock immense productivity gains”.
Xerox Intelligence Workplace Services
That said, two of the three main challenges addressed by intelligence workplace services have a tight alignment with MPS. One is organizations’ need to gain control of their print infrastructure, including equipment, consumables, and associated repair and operating costs. The other is securing the print infrastructure, including printed material, print devices on the network, and collected data.
It is really the third challenge that goes beyond traditional MPS; that is the need to replace paper-based processes with more efficient workflows that boost employee productivity and satisfaction. This is achieved through a combination of analytics, automation, content management, mobility, and more.
Intelligence workplace services falls within the umbrella of Xerox’s horizontal services. Other horizontal services are available for capture and content, accounts payable, digital hub and cloud print, and campaign on demand. Available globally, these offerings are focused on streamlining time-consuming, business-critical processes
Xerox also offers a number of sector-specific services that are designed to enhance the client experience at the intersection of physical and digital worlds. Indeed, Xerox believes customers aren’t seeking to choose one medium over the other—but rather experience both in a personalized, consistent, and seamless way.
These sector-specific offerings—which are currently available in the U.S., Canada, UK, and France—include services for “digital” insurers, patients (for healthcare sector), citizens (for local, state, and federal government), and retailers. During its briefing, Xerox provided several case studies, including insurance services for AXA in France and Italy.
Thanks to Xerox’s services, AXA has delivered client communication automation, including semantic processing and categorization of inbound communications. This has resulted in €1.7 million savings over the life of the contract, increased security of incoming mail, and a 25% reduction in production 20 million outgoing customer documents.
In regard to intelligence workplace services, Xerox acknowledges it has been on this trajectory for a number of years but is now renaming its offering to align with the breadth of its services. An important part of promoting these services to clients is connecting to them to key client objectives and themes.
These include a focus on security, cloud, data analytics, and digital transformation. As stated by Elizabeth Fox, Xerox Vice President of Intelligent Workplace Services, “to kind of sum up intelligent workplace services, it changes the conversation to center on the technology and market forces that are shaping our client’ strategies”—including focuses outside of print.
Xerox is implementing a global training program (with both in-person and virtual components) to ensure sales teams are properly trained on positioning and selling intelligence workplace services.
InfoTrends’ opinion
Back in February of this year, Xerox held its first investor day since its new leadership took over in 2018. During that event, the company provided an overview of its new strategy and financial objectives for 2019 and beyond. This strategy included a plan of business transformation around strategic initiatives to optimize operations, improve cash flow, drive revenue growth, and re-energize innovation. One of these strategic initiatives is expanding the company’s services and software business, including in areas beyond print; such as device as service (DaaS) which will gain further traction through the recent Xerox/HP partnership https://blog.infotrends.com/hp-and-xerox-interesting-bedfellows-and-implications-to-traditional-relationships/
Xerox’s new services branding aligns with this goal. Steve Bandrowczak, President and COO of Xerox, believes the key to the company’s success will be through instilling a culture of continuous improvement. We believe this steady approach to strategic progress will strengthen Xerox’s position in the office equipment market while also exposing it to new business process automation opportunities outside of its traditional focus areas.
