PRINTERS
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Billed as the largest product
launch in Xerox’s 110-year
history, the introduction of 29 new
ConnectKey devices effectively
re-boots the recently separated
company’s printer range, giving it a
more compelling, solutions-enabled
offering to take to market.
The product refresh strengthens
Xerox’s portfolio in areas where it
has looked weak in the past, such
as A4 MFPs; it delivers a consistent
user experience right across the
range; and, crucially, it extends the
Extensible Interface Platform (EIP)
to many more devices, meaning that
Xerox now has the largest solutions-
enabled portfolio in the industry.
It’s all about platforms today, and
by app-enabling its new devices with
EIP, Xerox is in a better position to
help customers digitise document
processes and workflows, whilst
giving resellers the ability to provide
fully customised solutions and
more efficient managed document
services (MDS).
The new devices are expected
to play a big part in helping Xerox
rebalance its business over the
next three years, as it attempts
to increase the proportion of its
revenue from growth areas (A4
laser MFPs, managed document
services) from 40% to 50%.
Expanding its A4 portfolio and
making all the devices solutions-
ready – previously just two of its A4
devices were solutions-enabled –
will strengthen Xerox’s hand in the
fast growing MDS market for small
and medium-sized businesses, a
market that is experiencing annual
growth of 4-6%, compared to 2-3%
in the enterprise sector where
Xerox has traditionally operated.
Since announcing its new
printers/MFPs in April, Xerox has
further strengthened its SMB
offering with an enhanced basic
print service for multi-brand fleets,
PageConnect Services, and a
cloud-based enterprise content
management system, DocuShare
Flex, that enables businesses with
as few as five employees to digitise
and automate business processes.
It has also recruited a number of
new resellers to expand its presence
in the SMB market, including the
Arena Group, IT Document Solutions
and Viking Office Systems.
These developments are
all underpinned by the new
ConnectKey portfolio. So, what
exactly did Xerox announce at the
beginning of April and why are the
new devices so significant?
ConnectKey 2017
The ConnectKey 2017 launch
introduces 29 printers and MFPs
split across two new sub-brands:
Versalink, for small user groups and
SMBs with limited IT support; and
Altalink, for centralised use. There
are 19 new Versalink devices (12 A4
and 7 A3) and 10 mid-range Altalink
MFPs (all A3) with print speeds of
up to 90 pages per minute.
Both sub-brands share the
same user interface, ensuring a
consistent experience across all
devices, and have a number of
properties in common:
1
Intuitive User Experience.
A
customisable tablet-based user
interface, with tap, swipe and pinch
controls, gives users the ability to
personalise the display for each
employee and delivers time-saving
features like scan previews and a
reduction in the number of steps
needed to complete a task. On
Altalink MFPs, scan to email now
involves just four steps, compared
to as many as 10 on other devices;
2
Mobile and Cloud Ready.
The
devices feature easy printing from
any mobile device and integration
with cloud services, such as
Dropbox. User-installable cloud
connectors can be downloaded
from the Xerox App Gallery;
3
Benchmark Security.
Xerox aims
to make security a differentiator
by not charging extra for real-time
protection from internal and
external security threats. Altalink
devices also offer whitelisting from
McAfee;
4
Next Generation Services.
All
29 devices support advanced, next
generation managed print services
through remote monitoring, remote
configuration, device cloning, meter
reading etc..
A platform
for growth
The biggest product launch in Xerox’s
history puts apps centre stage
5
Customisation.
The EIP
solutions platform empowers
resellers to create customised
solutions to meet specific customer
challenges using the App Studio
or Xerox Personalised Application
Builder (PAB).
Bertrand Cerisier, VP, Global
Marketing, Workplace Solutions
Business Group, says that the
combination of these five properties
transforms what can be done with
an MFP.
“The MFP today is a printing
peripheral that sits in the corner.
Our intention is to bring the MFP
into the heart of the operation –
to make it a means for people to
connect to workflow processes
and to connect systems together,
to connect the elements where
information is sitting.
“So, how do we connect things
from a technology point of view?
The first thing is to ensure that
everyone in an organisation can
have access to a workflow – down
to every individual. ConnectKey has
29 products, starting at under 1,000
euros – solutions-capable products
that bring workflow automation to the
masses. And this is out of the box.
“Second, is to have a software
platform, consistent across
all 29 products, that enables
customisation. All workers have
different processes and the
expectation is that we will configure
our technology to their workflow and
not the other way round.
“The third thing is solutions,
from three main areas: our own
solutions; solutions from experts
like Nuance that meet a horizontal
requirement in the document
management world, as well as
sector-specific providers; and
solutions from our reseller channel.”
Customised apps
Solutions, or apps, were a major
focus of the launch and Xerox
The new devices
are expected to
play a big part
in helping Xerox
rebalance its
business over
the next three
years
Continued...
XEROX
ConnectKey
Issue 46
2017
