“Xerox is looking at creating future alternatives”

How is India's A4 printer market shaping up?
The overall printing business in India is certainly shaping up positively. Yes, the pattern of printing is evolving and changing, but the need of printing still continues to exist and will continue to for the upcoming years.

We are optimistic that the market will continue to grow and some of the products we plan to be launched in 2017 will certainly make an impact in the Indian market.

Since digital has eaten a lot of printer business in India and globally, what are the business avenues left for your companies?
Digital is certainly the way forward for India. If you look at more matured markets, the digital revolution had already begun and we are late into adopting it. As a result, most global companies had already looked at transforming their business and especially printing majors like us.

While complexities of technology continue to increase with the evolution of technology, we have been fairly successful developing mutually complementary solutions that not only address various technological needs but also in turn generate new opportunities. The Next Generation MPS is designed to build momentum and deliver new value that help organizations of all sizes realize cost savings up to 30% with increased efficiencies.  It is designed to:

• Analyze how and why documents are printed, and use that analytical intelligence to change the way information is accessed. It is way beyond merely managing customers’ existing fleet
• Enhance information security without disrupting the IT infrastructure
• Make mobile/cloud printing easier and more convenient
• Evaluate, simplify and improve everyday document-intensive business processes through workflow automation.

While enterprises and Governments will still depend on print processes, we are also looking at creating future alternatives. Here’s where Service offerings like Document Transaction Processing Services (DTPS), help businesses to print less– reducing costs by up to 30%; across various verticals like Manufacturing, Telecom and Banking et al. We believe that a service like this can play a prominent part in contributing to digitisation initiatives of the Govt.

We believe ‘Digital India’ programme will touch millions of lives and as a company, we are keen to play an active part in accelerating this plan for the government via digitization tools.

What's the focus on right now? Is it on MFD lasers, MFD inkjet or otherwise?
Adoption and demand of all forms of MFDs has certainly been on a rise since the last decade and this is largely led by SMBs and their need for one device being able to perform multiple tasks.

We have a slew of MFDs that can cater to multiple needs of the customers and we believe both the laser and the inkjet MFDs will continue to co-exist. There are specific markets that are catered by inkjet and laser, therefore as a result both will continue to existing the near future. Xerox has a range of inkjet and laser MFDs - all doing well in the market.

Our focus has always been on how to give the best to our customers. Our channel partners are spread across the country and they constantly update us on the market demands, need and customer feedback. Our strength in the field and customer service has been one of the best since inception and this has helped us to both retain old customers and push to bring in new ones.

Another huge focus area for us is the SMB market. Indian Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector has emerged as a highly vibrant and dynamic sector of the Indian economy over the last five decades. SMEs are complementary to large industries as ancillary units and this sector contributes enormously to the socio-economic development of the country. The sector through more than 6,000 products contributes about 8% to GDP besides 45% to the total manufacturing output and 40% to the exports from the country. About a decade back, SMB players were conservative in their IT spending but today the situation has changed totally and SMB firms have realized the need and significance of IT for their growth.

Our devices are a great fit for this segment and this is clearly going to be a focus area for the next few years for us.

 In India, what are the verticals where printers are still critical?
There are multiple industries which still need to print and they are countless. To take few examples, the telecom industry, medical industry and verticals like book-publishing, photo-printing, commercials etc. will continue to keep the momentum of the industry on a high.

Are you optimistic that printer market will re-emerge?
Yes, we are very optimistic, we have already seen the changes in the past few years. Our business significantly grew in the last year. We have introduced a slew of new printers, both in the digital printing business and the office space. We recently launched ConnectKey technology enabled i-Series MFPs which is a significant revolution for the mobile workforce of today. The printers can translate documents to 35 languages, has an in-built app studio and much more.

This is the innovation that Xerox has always brought to the market and with such products, the market will certainly grow.

What's your company doing to stay relevant in the printer business?
Innovation is key, whichever industry you are in, you need to innovate to be relevant and Xerox has always been at the helm of innovation. Our expertise in the printing business is known to the world and we are constantly innovating and experimenting to deliver the best to our customers. The ConnectKey technology is a testament to that.

So definitely, bringing in new and innovative products, improving our customer support and believing in our people and channel capabilities are the three mantras to stay relevant in the printer business today.