Vipin Tuteja. Credit: Infotechlead.com
OEM to continue SMB focus as business grows steadily in India.
In an interview with The Financial Express, Vipin Tuteja, Executive Director, Technology, Channels and International Business at Xerox India, discussed the direction of Xerox’s business in India; explaining that the OEM operates in three verticals – innovation and technology, services, and ACS or “Xerox Services”; for all of which India is a growth market, despite the traditional printing business being flat globally.
Tuteja said that Xerox is “bullish about strengthening its position” in the SMB segment; adding that as 90 percent of SMBs in India are based in the top 200 Tier II and Tier III cities “it becomes very essential to tap these cities”, and so Xerox “has developed an aggressive Go-to-Market strategy for tapping this segment and reaching out to a larger group of audience”. This has resulted in Xerox’s channel partners already covering the top 200 cities, with 40 to 45 percent of business coming from SMBs.
In terms of SMB printing requirement, Tuteja noted that they are “very different to large enterprises” as they are “looking for high quality printers at affordable price points”. As a result, Xerox has recently launched products in both the A3 and A4 categories that have “streamlined performance, ease of use and compact design”.
Discussing the company’s strategies in addressing the SMB segment, Tuteja said: “Our strategies have always been aligned to the needs and demands of our customers. SMBs thrive on factors like competitive pricing and high quality outputs for selecting a right printer. The total cost of ownership such as subsequent running and supplies cost are also critical.
“Though buying decisions primarily revolve around Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and the value a printer offers, reliability/serviceability of the machine is also a big ask put forward by SMEs. A service support enables an organisation to achieve key business objectives, solve critical problems and develop capabilities to target future opportunities. Service support provides the competitive advantage that is crucial for any organisation’s ability to target strategic growth opportunities.”
Looking ahead, Tuteja said that Xerox “will continue to focus on the SMB segment in FY2014 and constantly innovate and develop products to meet the demands of the market segment”; focusing on consolidating the existing channel base and equipping them with “tools to provide apt document related consultancy to customers along with strong after sales service”, as well as adopting “A3 MFDs and solutions with Connectkey controller that offers enhanced security, can print from mobile [devices], enables BYOD (bring your own device) and is aptly suited for the mobile worker of today”.
Challenges presented by the SMB segment, according to Tuteja, include its “scattered” nature, with businesses spanning the country, although he added that Xerox reaches out to over 90 percent of them. Creating awareness of document management possibilities, however, “is still a challenge”.