Xerox Launches Global Services Division

Xerox Corp. is launching its Global Services division to help coordinate the delivery of its consulting and outsourcing services. Although Xerox has offered document-management and outsourcing services previously, Global Services has been created to add more comprehensive consulting and strategy services.

Xerox, an $18.7 billion company best known for its office-equipment business, will staff its Global Services division primarily with employees from its Xerox Connect subsidiary in the United States, Xerox Professional Services in Canada, and Xerox Industry Solutions & Services (XISS) in Europe. Tom Dolan, who will report directly to president and CEO Anne Mulcahy, will head the division.

Xerox Global Services is one of the areas the company is counting on to drive growth. The other areas are office systems, such as the Document Centre, and production solutions, which include equipment and systems like the DocuTech production publishing system and the DocuColor iGen3 Digital Production Press. To ensure the services side of the business holds up its end of the bargain, Xerox has to show its customers that it's committed to providing services, says Larry Wash, VP of strategy and marketing for Xerox Global Services. "Services is all about building credibility, and we recognize that it's a journey," he says.

Analysts agree that Xerox has yet to make its mark as a service provider. "They know the paper world pretty well and have a grasp on the digital world," says James Lundy, Gartner knowledge- and information-management research director. "The big challenge Xerox has always had when they had leading-edge technology was delivering that technology to the clients," Lundy says, adding that "infighting" has been a problem for Xerox in the past, particularly when the company tries to sell IT services through a sales force that's trained primarily to sell office equipment.

Xerox Global Services will offer knowledge- and content-management consulting services as well as managed and outsourcing services. The high-end consulting side of the business will have a dedicated sales force, but the more commodity-based outsourcing side, which includes document management, will continue to be sold through existing sales channels. Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center will serve as a support organization for the Global Services division, developing knowledge- and document-management technology.