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Xerox on March 29 in New York introduced 29 ConnectKey enabled printers and multifunction devices featuring mobile and cloud connectivity. The goal, said CEO Jeff Jacobson, is to “set the page free” by “helping the world communicate and connect.”
The new products, he said, were designed to enable workers to “move easily between the physical and digital worlds,” allowing companies to use cloud services to connect their employees’ mobile devices to ConnectKey multifunction printers.
“These new printers and multifunction products give users access to all their information at all times from all devices,” said Mike Feldman, corporate executive vice president and president of North America Operations at Xerox. “And users can securely view or print their documents right from their mobile devices. They can even print to facilities outside their company, such as hotels and Staples stores.”
The devices, which share an intuitive, customizable user interface, feature personalized workflows, one-touch access to the cloud, a consistent user experience and multilayered security, which gives users the option to work securely from any device and location.
“The products provide benchmark security,” said Tracey Koziol, senior vice president, Workplace Solutions, at Xerox. They include intrusion prevention, device detection, document and data protection (including encryption), and external partnerships with industry companies such as McAfee, as well as industry standards and certifications.
The 29 devices include the Xerox VersaLink and Xerox AltaLink series. The VersaLink products, which target small workgroups and distributed teams, include 19 printers and multifunction devices. The AltaLink devices comprise 10 multifunction printers for large workgroups or print volume requirements.
The Xerox App Gallery includes both off-the-shelf and customized apps that are created by channel partners. They include information apps, support apps and apps that can be used to create workflows that are tailored to a company’s specific needs.
“We are bringing resellers into the design phase to customize these solutions,” said Bertrand Cerisier, vice president, Global Marketing, Workplace Solutions, at Xerox. “We want to give partners tools they can use to engage with their customers.”
He added that channel partners and customers can use Xerox’s Personalized App Builder to create their own apps. “Users don’t need coding skills,” Cerisier said. “The PAB is template-based and simple to use.”
Jacobson said that Xerox plans to move approximately half of its business—printers, multifunction products and managed document services—from mature markets into growth markets by 2020. He added that the company also plans to increase the use of channel partners to cover the small and midsize business (SMB) market.
“We want to add many more channel partners,” Feldman said, “and we are actively recruiting them. We think they will be very interested in our new line of products and the stability that Xerox offers.”