Vikas Gupta- How is Xerox India positioning itself in the Indian sub continent?
Mr. 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.
Vikas Gupta- What are the digital printing solutions available in the market by Xerox?
Mr. Vipin Tuteja– There are huge opportunities especially for digital printing with the growth largely driven by personalisation, collaboration and digitization. In India the past few years have seen heavy investments by the leading manufacturers in faster printing machineries. Sectors such as retail and FMCG have shifted from corner shops to malls and this has benefited India’s packaging industry. Many of India’s commercial printers have diversified into package printing and offset printing. Today, everyone is debating on the future of conventional printing as well as the acceptability of digital printing, popularly termed as ‘print on demand’. On all fronts whether in expos, seminars, conferences, within India or overseas, trends going ahead in the particular direction are being evaluated by many research institutes, and conveyed via specific reports. The Indian digital printing industry is poised for growth and expansion in the years to come.
India is a key market for Xerox and over the years it has ushered in a revolution in technology and innovation in the digital printing industry. Xerox is consistently building its inventions into business by embedding them in superior Xerox products and solutions, using them as the foundation of new businesses, or licensing or selling them to other entities. Xerox has been investing in the Indian print market to help print providers build their businesses through digital technology. That investment is paying off for our business and for our customers. This region has reached a tipping point in the adoption of digital technology. And now print providers are embracing digital faster than ever before. Xerox has shifted the focus from product centric to customer centric approach.
Xerox with its exhaustive product portfolio and technology leadership caters to wide range of target audiences including Commercial Printers, Graphic Art Specialists, Advertising Agencies & the Packaging Industry. We have a series of digital presses to cater to the needs and demands of our customers. Xerox has recently launched the Xerox Color J75 and C75 and continues to establish leadership in the digital printing space through a wide portfolio of presses like iGen, Xerox 1000 press which also caters to the needs and demands of our customers affordably with high quality outputs. Our ability to capture market transitions and provide product and solutions to customers that caters to their demands of today and tomorrow, has helped us retain our leadership in the domain. We are constantly upgrading and updating ourselves according to the market and have always set the benchmark in the industry.
Vikas Gupta- How much of a role are the channels playing in taking Xerox India ahead of its competitors?
Mr. Vipin Tuteja– Our go to market strategy is completely through our channel partners. In the last year, Xerox India expanded channel base with focus on top 200 cities. In 2013, we will continue to strengthen our presence in the top 200 cities and increase our engagement with our partners and customers to maximize their benefits in terms of better returns.
Channel partners are our extended team and they are the interface between Xerox solutions & our customers. We at Xerox India have always shared a great rapport and relationship with our partners. The growth has been mutual; we have grown and expanded in India and have helped them grow in their businesses. Starting from training to all other kinds of support, we provide it all to our partners. We understand the fact that for Xerox to grow, our partners have to grow too. So we have also introduced 12 channel lever programs. These are different programs which provide benefits and also train our channel partners. It is important for partners to provide the right kind of solutions and just not sell a box.
- Strategic Partner Program (Partner First – Drive Growth. Together): Launch of Partner First – a strategic Partner Program with a 3-tier Membership creates the foundation for a stronger engagement with a Xerox Partner. It fundamentally ensures that Partners who align to the objectives of this program are assured of their continued growth with Xerox.
- Training and Enablement Framework (XPERT – Engage, Learn, Succeed): Right skill yourselves and your team. Leverage the Xerox Face-To-Face training sessions and the e-Learning courses in the PartnerNet Portal. Talk the customer’s language. Increase your chances of Winning.
- Quarterly Channel Newsletter (XConnect – Stay Connected): A quarterly connect with you – to share with you what’s happening in the Channel Ecosystem for Xerox Partners and how together we can WIN in the market place. Read the updates, share your wins, participate in the quiz, share your feedback.
- Partner Portal (Partner Net – Portal of Choice): Get direct access to sales and marketing tools, analysis and research materials, eLearning courses, memory joggers and resources to help you run events more smoothly. Plus, participate in open discussions between your colleagues and Xerox.
- Communication Platform (Partner Pulse : Communicating Effectively): Know the highlights of the focused Xerox products, get the latest news and promotions, enhance awareness of sales, marketing and support resources. Be in Sync. Through e-mail and SMS. On all Xerox Channel initiatives.
- Reward & Recognition (XPL – Celebrating Channel Excellence): XPL is a platform for celebrating Channel Excellence and the opportunity to network and recognize the star performers of Xerox Partners. XPL is about Winning Attitude, Consistency in Business, Exclusivity based on performance, Fun and Celebration and above all, it’s Your Platform
- Sales Kit (XCEED-Armed to Win): Confident selling starts with the right levels of preparation. Arm your Sales Team with the power of Brand Xerox. Accord them the confidence of a winner. Give them the tools right selling through the Sales Kit.
- Create a winning habit.
- Business Planning (XPAND): Rewarding partners for consistent business performance, driving a predictable growth in your Xerox business through planning and execution ensures better support and higher profitability for you. The key is a sound business plan and seamless execution commitment.
- Tactical Programs (XCITE – Rewarding the Achievers): Leverage the periodic incentive schemes to challenge one’s own potential, drive up the sales trajectory and enjoy the rich rewards of the incentive program. Be Active. Be Aware. Be a Winner.
- Partner On-Boarding – Creating a team of winners: New partners in the Xerox Channel Ecosystem is supported through an on-boarding framework. This support helps a partner to quickly leverage these elements and focus on driving the agreed business plans.
- Feedback Survey – Your Voice is important: A continuous focus on listening to and acting on partner feedback implies greater loyalty, increasing your promotion of Xerox, and driving mutually profitable growth. This is a fundamental part of how we assess our performance against our partners’ expectations and requirements.
- Partner Advisory Council-Charting Strategic Directions : Partner Advisory Council to enable Thought Leadership for many more initiatives around Market Development, Demand Generation and Partner Enablement are on the anvil. Hence, Stay Engaged & Stay Focused.
We have gone through an entire channel restructuring. We understand the fact that customers do not want three to four partners approaching them. So we have trained our channels accordingly making sure that the customers are approached by the right kind of partners in the right place and build a relation and provide the right kind of solution. This is where our partners provides the edge and takes us ahead of competition.
Vikas Gupta- What according to you are the trends in Managed Print Services (MPS) in India?
Mr. Vipin Tuteja– Managed Print Services (MPS) offers an opportunity for both large and small enterprises in India to control costs, enhance document security and improve productivity of their print environments. Xerox is uniquely positioned as the global market leader in MPS to seize this opportunity and to provide superior business value to our customers. The testimony to this is the fact that Xerox has consistently been awarded as the Global leader by leading analyst firms such as Forrester, Quocirca and Gartner in the MPS space. Our Services business is also thriving and more clients are turning to us for MPS to help save on costs and boost efficiency, productivity and security. Xerox’s MPS offerings contribute a fair share towards our fast expanding Services business in India.
Our MPS offerings are enhancing customer experience across industry verticals primarily financial services sector, telecom, consumer goods, retail and manufacturing. Some of Xerox’s flagship MPS customers in India are Alstom Projects India Ltd., Johnson & Johnson, Cisco, Citibank and Dow Chemical.
Xerox India recently, along with Ernst & Young came out with the first ever survey on Managed Print Services in India. The survey projects a high growth rate of 30% for MPS services in India, and a significant growth opportunity for Xerox, widely acknowledged as the global leader in the MPS domain by all major analysts firms. Xerox is bullish and focused to tap this potential market and sustain the thought leadership henceforth. MPS market in India is among the fastest growing in the world, and is in the early stage of adoption with a vast untapped opportunity for the market to expand. The market is expected to clock CAGR of 30% over next 3-4 years.
Vikas Gupta- How are system integrators helping you grow your business across enterprises and SMBs?
Mr. Vipin Tuteja– As part of our Go–to-Market strategy to reach out to of the growing number of SMEs & Enterprises in the country, Xerox deploys a two-pronged strategy. We work with leading system integrators across the country at multiple customer locations to provide the appropriate document management solutions for the Enterprises and SME’s. In addition, our extensive channel partner network of over 300+ Partners and over 3000+ Resellers takes our reach to top 200 cities identified by Xerox across the country. Together they offer the right mix of coverage and reach for the SME & Enterprise segment.
Vikas Gupta- What new Xerox products can the Indian market hope to see this year?
Mr. Vipin Tuteja– 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.
Vikas Gupta- What is your overall market outlook? What would be your focus areas for the next one year?
Mr. Vipin Tuteja– Xerox has always been at the forefront of product and technology innovation. This year we introduced a series of multifunction printers (MFPs) enabled with the new Xerox ConnectKey™ controller that is designed to simplify how work gets done. Xerox ConnectKey MFPs offer mobile printing and scanning solutions that integrate fully with cloud-based technologies and mobile devices.
We are scaling-up our investments in channel expansion and channel capability enhancement as it is a key component for driving our growth. We are focusing a lot on efficient operations to drive low costs; improve profitability; effective sales and channel management to ensure that we continue to consolidate our position in the market and achieve our growth potential fully.
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.
Vikas Gupta- What products and solutions are being positioned for the enterprise sector?
Mr. Vipin Tuteja– Xerox stands for innovation, customer satisfaction and delivering quality & excellence. We have one of the widest portfolios from entry level to high end digital presses, from office documentation and digital production systems to a very focused & comprehensive channel operation.
The newly introduced WorkCentre 7800 and 5800 ConnectKey MFP series is enabled with industry first embedded security protection from McAfee, giving IT managers more control and peace of mind in “bring your own device” (BYOD) workplaces. These devices also have an extra layer of security with Cisco’s TrustSec that protects data paths to and from the devices. Xerox ConnectKey MFPs offer mobile printing and scanning solutions that integrate fully with cloud-based technologies and mobile devices. These devices provide the benefits of enhanced convenience, increased productivity and a more cost-effective infrastructure. These devices also come loaded with features such as scan to editable format, cost control by managing power consumption and user’s permission for printing, single touch scanning and enhanced and simpler user interface. Xerox’s ConnectKey features include the ability to scan and upload documents to cloud repositories, send business-critical documents directly into workflow processes and print securely and easily from any mobile device, thus truly enabling BYOD scenarios.
We have in-house end-to-end capabilities to transform and optimize business process and document management value-chain. This is a key differentiator that Xerox brings to large enterprises in India. While several players offer compartmentalized solutions in these domains, the capability to streamline the entire value chain is something that is unique to Xerox. More and more CIOs in Indian enterprise landscape are outsourcing document management services. We see a fundamental structural change happening where more and more customers/CIOs are shifting from a CapEx-led captive print infrastructure to an OpEx-driven managed print services, thereby reaping the benefits of lower costs, enhanced productivity, robust security and risk management, mobile or cloud printing, user and cost centre-based accounting and security features, effective print governance via SLA assurance and single point of accountability.
