You won't find many companies listed in the dictionary as a verb. Xerox, once self-styled as "The Document Company," has grown from offering document machines to also providing business process outsourcing (BPO), information technology outsourcing (ITO), and document outsourcing (DO). Services include customer care and claims filing, infrastructure, cloud computing, application development, managed print services, and document and data management. In addition, it remains a leading provider of equipment, including office printers, digital printing systems, and multifunction printers/copiers. Xerox serves customers in both the private and public sectors worldwide; the US, however, is its largest market.
Operations
Xerox has two main segments that together represent more than 95% of sales: services (BPO, ITO, and DO) and document technology (products, supplies, and related service and financing). The company's other, smaller business lines include wide-format systems, GIS network integration, and electronic presentation systems; together they make up nearly 5% of sales.
BPO constitutes about 60% of services, with DO taking about 30%, and ITO bringing in just more than 10%. BPO addresses common enterprise functions such as HR and tech support, as well as offering support for financial services, healthcare, transportation, retail, travel, and insurance, and more. ITO focuses on mainframe server environments, network, and desktop, but also includes other functions such as remote infrastructure management and utility computing, among others. DO offers managed print services and communication and marketing services. Xerox's document technology segment is made up of mid-range products (nearly 60% of the segment), small and midsized business offerings (about 20%), and its high-end portfolio for graphic, communications, and large clients (about 20%).
Geographic Reach
Xerox serves more than 160 countries, with nearly 70% of sales coming from the US, and about 20% from Europe. The company has primary facilities in Canada, France, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, the Netherlands, Philippines, the UK, and the US.
Sales and Marketing
The company markets its products and services by geography, sales channel type, and line of business. It complements a network of third-party sales channels, such as resellers and systems integrators, with a large internal global sales team. Xerox has about 750 authorized sales agents and some 31,000 technology resellers.
Financial Performance
Revenue fell more than 4% in 2013 to $21.4 billion because of the divestiture of Xerox's North American and European paper businesses, as well as an expected decline in the document technology segment (which fell 6%). That segment's results were impacted by price declines, weakness in developing markets, and the migration of customers to Xerox's managed print services (part of the services segment). The company's services segment grew about 3% that year with all three lines of business (BPO, ITO, and DO) rising. ITO grew 9% and DO and BPO rose 4% and 1%, respectively.
Net income in 2013 fell 3% to $1.16 billion on the lower revenue, as well as some $200 million more in outsourcing, maintenance, and rentals costs.
Strategy
While Xerox is as dedicated as ever to remaining the leading global document company, it is embracing the digital and outsourcing age by making its services segment the company's lead horse. The services segment has been growing steadily since the $6.4 billion acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) in 2010 helped the business overtake the technology side in 2011 to become Xerox's largest segment. It aims for services to account for some two-thirds of revenue by 2017.
As part of that focus on services, in 2013 the company sold its US and Canadian paper and print media products business (coated and uncoated papers and specialty print media such as business forms and carbonless and wide-format paper) to Domtar Corporation. It later sold its Western European paper business to Sequana subsidiary Antalis. In late 2014, Xerox agreed to sell its information technology outsourcing business to Atos for just more than $1 billion. Xerox plans to use proceeds from the sale to buy back stock and to make acquisitions. The company will contract with Atos to continue to use the unit's IT services.
Xerox also focuses on vertical markets -- healthcare, transportation, wireless communications, and graphic communications, among them -- where it exploits its years of experience. In the healthcare vertical, the company partnered with PatientPoint in early 2014 to help market PatientPoint’s digital check-in and population health management software. Also that year it expanded its healthcare research at Xerox research facilities in New York and India.
With much of its business coming from the US, Xerox also sees international business as a key growth opportunity. Three of its four acquisitions in the services segment were outside the US.
Mergers and Acquisitions
In line with its strategy to expand its market reach and the offerings of its services segment via acquisition, Xerox is buying ISG Holdings for $225 million; ISG offers workers' compensation software and services. In 2013 the company purchased Canadian pension administration software provider CPAS Systems and London software firm Customer Value Group (cloud-based accounts receivable and CRM software) and Invovo Holding, based in Germany, which expands Xerox’s customer care services in Europe. Its lone US acquisition that year was e-learning and consumer education firm LearnSomething, based in Florida.
Acquisitions in the document technology segment in 2013 included Impika (France, inkjet printing products) and office equipment dealers in Florida and Oklahoma.
Among its half-dozen 2012 purchases were e-discovery technology provider Lateral Data; UK-based Wireless Data Services, which specializes in collecting, analyzing, and consulting on wireless customer interactions; Italian customer care firm XL World; and R.K. Dixon, a provider of IT and print services and printers in Iowa and Illinois.