Xerox Global Services: Media Backgrounder (Xerox Office Services (XOS) Line of Business)

Xerox Global Services is split into three lines of business: Document Outsourcing; Business Process Services (BPS) and Xerox Office Services (XOS). The XOS line of business specifically resolves issues experienced by large organisations that are often unaware of the real cost of producing documents in the office.

Organisations research, study and manage their costs closely - company cars, marketing, new business development are all allocated budgets and measured against them. However, few organisations monitor or are even aware of the cost of producing documents, whether financially or in terms of their effect on staff productivity. Typically, organisations perceive the cost of printing as the cost of purchasing printing, photocopying or faxing devices, but this is only a fraction of the overall cost.

XOS begins by analysing the total cost of ownership of a company’s office output infrastructure. The results of this assessment are crystallised into a simple ‘per page’ printing cost. This cost is influenced by the quantity of different device manufacturers and types of consumables, multiple forms of contracts, service level agreements and billing process for each supplier, and the ability of staff to maintain the organisation’s devices among other factors.

In December 2003, analyst house IDC remarked, “Xerox is believed to be the most experienced vendor when it comes to paid office assessments, having done at least 400 covering more than 30,000 personnel. Xerox provides a consultative assessment to reveal opportunities for cost reductions…boasts the use of six sigma, with the ability to focus on improving business processes and document workflow - in addition to the more classic components of an assessment…”

Armed with all these facts and figures, Xerox’s experienced consultants advise the organisation on how to drive down its costs. Once the organisation has decided on the course of action to take, Xerox then takes over responsibility to meet these objectives by managing the organisation’s fleet of devices, throughout the IMACD (Install, Move, Add, Change, Dispose) process and the rationalisation of the devices over a period of time. Rationalisation allows the customer to reach an optimised state where there is the right number of devices to fully support the business and drive cost and productivity gains.

The customer decides with Xerox the optimised state but Xerox then owns the execution. Installation of new devices is controlled by XOS, and existing devices are tagged and monitored physically and on the network. These initial steps in the XOS implementation alone usually save the customer organisation up to 25 per cent in costs, and regular detailed management reports confirm how well the new arrangement is performing.

XOS also improves productivity and adds value to the organisation’s print production by assuming responsibility for the upkeep of the customer organisation’s devices, whether it is a Xerox product or otherwise. This means that the customer doesn’t compromise its existing investment but, by managing all existing contracts, Xerox provides the customer with a single point of contact for billing, administration, and problem resolution for all devices. Xerox manages all of the assets on behalf of the customer, negotiates service level agreements with device suppliers, and ensures they keep to them. Over time, Xerox itself assumes responsibility for the management of repairs, technology upgrades, and every other IMACD possibility. Xerox also reaps economies of scale that the customer organisation cannot, by purchasing consumables in bulk and therefore at a discount.

All processes required to support the output fleet are managed from a dedicated customer help desk facility at Xerox Global Services’ site in Ballycoolin, Ireland. Xerox personnel can deal with queries such as how to install new printer drivers onto PCs or the network, or general maintenance and repair queries. This ensures that personnel in the customer organisation are able to make full use of every device’s functionality, and can concentrate on what they do best: their jobs.

XOS offers the customer very significant cost savings. Xerox Global Services is confident enough to sign a contract committing to save the organisation around 25 per cent of their total costs of ownership annually from the bottom line.

This market is a growth opportunity for Xerox, and one where Xerox Global Services has a proven track record.

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