February 3rd, 2012 | Author: Larry Walsh
Services are nothing new to Xerox, as the company is one of the driving forces behind managed print as an augmentation of its legacy printer and copier business. But the cloud beckons and Xerox is heading in with the launch of infrastructure and backup services that are a departure from its document management core.
Designed for small and midsized businesses with revenues ranging from $10 million to $250 million, the Xerox IaaS and backup cloud services are intended to provide resources that ensure applications, data and platforms are available and secure.
“Cloud technology is often presented as a complex, ‘big company’ infrastructure solution. But, in fact, managing IT operations in the ‘cloud’ is just as relevant and affordable for smaller companies and can be even more impactful,” said Ken Stephens, senior vice president of Xerox Cloud Services. “Expanding Xerox’s IaaS and Backup and Recovery services to SMBs is the next step toward offering a full suite of business cloud services that SMBs can access on a ‘pay-as-you-go’ model.”
Xerox plans to sell its cloud services through its channel, focusing primarily on the backup and disaster recovery services. These services are channel bestsellers as solution providers find their smaller customers have no or insufficient backup resources to ensure data integrity and business continuity.
“Xerox extending its sales efforts to SMBs through VARs is a smart move, especially in the growing cloud space,” said Ben Trowbridge, CEO at Alsbridge, a global advisory firm, in a statement. “It’s a logical extension of their longstanding enterprise services, with more opportunities to sell additional Xerox products and services relevant to SMBs.”
The pay-as-you-go, no long-term commitment model will make the Xerox services more affordable and approachable for solution providers, as development of cloud resources is often a barrier to entry. The same model is preferred among end users, as well, as it gives them flexibility in cloud deployments and provider choice.
Xerox has been diversifying its portfolio in recent years. It acquired integrator and outsourcing company ACS to bolster its professional services capabilities, and has made a series of smaller, strategic acquisitions to expand technology support capacities beyond document management. It’s been attempting to build recurring revenues for itself and partners through managed print services with mixed success.
The launch of cloud services – particularly for backup – is a major departure from its core document management offerings, and could reshape Xerox into a portfolio technology supplier and service provider. At the very least, the services give its partners more options for approaching their customers.
Xerox isn’t the only document management company looking at the cloud for opportunity. Ricoh and Oki Data are both pushing managed print services hard, and Ricoh is dabbling in cloud solutions. Hewlett-Packard, the longtime Xerox rival in printers, has several major cloud initiatives for providing services, hardware and software.
What the Xerox services underscore is how cloud computing and IT services are not just disrupting conventional technology companies, but forcing racial transformations and mission realignment. In many regards, such transformations will benefit solution providers as vendors reinvent themselves to keep them and their channels relevant.
http://channelnomics.com/2012/...-smb-cloud-services/
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