Tag: Xerox

Xerox partners with Midwich

Posted on January 23, 2018 by - News

the-midwich-cuckoos-770Xerox has announced a partnership with the audio visual and document solutions distributor Midwich to provide MPS to the growing SMB market.

Midwich will provide cloud-based, managed print services that will allow customers to create less paper in the office through Xerox technology.

This technology offering forms part of Midwich’s brand new Expert Print Services (XPS), a fully flexible menu approach to managed print, which will expand Midwich’s Document Solutions Team reach.

XPS is an important strategic development for Midwich’s extensive print division and will form part of its long-term focus within the managed print market place, providing cloud-based print services that allows resellers and their customers to digitise their workplaces and stay ahead of the competition.

Midwich will distribute Xerox’s suite of MPS products including Light Production, Versant devices, and ConnectKey devices to its 6,000 strong VAR channel.

Midwich general manager Richard Wells, said: “As an established expert trade print partner, our experience and expertise has been extended into our new XPS proposition, giving customers the reassurance and peace of mind that they are working with a trusted, transparent supplier.

“All businesses and particularly SMBs today are looking for ways to automate workflow and improve productivity. We are confident that Xerox’s brand recognition and strength in managed print services solutions will enable us to fulfill that market need.”

Xerox UK and Ireland MD Andrew Morrison said that IT decision makers wanted MPS to make their operations more profitable and productive.

“With the paper to digital conversation fast becoming the new normal for business owners, MPS is an important enabler for digital transformation and a must-have for businesses.”

Xeretec’s Landscape move creates managed print power

Posted on June 8, 2017 by - News

history-of-print-16th-century-printing-companyXeretec’s move to buy Landscape Group has united Xerox and HP managed print services into a single force.

The latest consolidation comes just three months after Apogee snapped up Danwood with the ambition of gaining a strong position in the world of managed print services.

Xeretec is a Xerox specialist which wants to become an MPS powerhouse but it also wants to broaden its customer base beyond Xerox users.

Xeretec chief executive Steve Hawkins said that Xeretec will continue to consolidate and develop its longstanding commitment to the Xerox brand, building on its exceptional track record of success.

“This best-of-breed acquisition plays to the strengths of both respected brands and both resellers, while introducing new complementary HP devices and value-added services like Device as a Service to even more customers,” he said.

Landscape is an HP platinum partner for managed print, has been around for more than two decades.

Landscape’s CEO David Smith  said that becoming part of Xeretec would provide the business with more opportunities,

“It also brings new opportunities for our staff and partners. By combining Landscape’s 20 years plus of dedicated HP expertise, the scale and nationwide reach of Xeretec and HP’s impressive new entrance into the A3 MFP market place, customers now have an obvious route to investigate what a $50BN “new comer” can offer to enhance their IT infrastructure,” he said.

Xerox launches more channel friendly products

Posted on June 6, 2017 by - News

1913_Victoria_Copying_MachineXerox has launched more products targeted at its channel and SME customer base and is recruiting new partners.

Recently Xerox has been stepping up its channel programmes as a way of reaching SME customers.

In April the firm launched its ConnectKey portfolio, which makes its printing devices smart and connected and gives resellers options to deliver a more personalised experience for users.

The firm has named three new partners: document management outfit Arena Group, managed print and document solutions provider IT Document Solutions and office hardware and systems supplier Viking Office Systems.

Andrew Morrison, managing director, Xerox UK and Ireland, said the latest partners complemented the existing UK network and it would continue to flag up the proposition the firm had to offer the channel.

“We are working hard to help our partners build their businesses through offering customers some of the most innovative solutions on the market – and have significantly expanded the number of product choices and price points we’re offering as a result,” he added.

The vendor has a network of 50 partners in the UK and two months ago also launched its PageConnect Services, which would appeal to those looking to add more options to a managed print service.

Marlow-based reseller Softcat floats

Posted on November 16, 2015 by - Moving People, News

Flying-Cat-8The Marlow-based software reseller Softcat has listed in a deal that valued the business at £472.3 million.

Softcat valued its shares at 240p, and they climbed as high as 270p in early trading. It said the IPO allowed its founders to sell down their stakes and the group would receive no proceeds from the flotation.

Founder Peter Kelly set up the firm in 1993 and has described himself as a “weird and eccentric entrepreneur.” He sold just over a third of his stake, raising an estimated £88m. He retains a holding of around 33 percent, which is worth around £150 million.

Kelly ran the company until 2006 and was its chairman until three years ago, owning around half the equity before the listing.

Martin Hellawell, chief executive, owned 12 percent of the business, valued at £56 million. He sold a third of his holding.

The float also created a number of paper millionaires among its employees. Staff, excluding founders, own some 24 percent of the company.

Kelly hitchhiked around the world before joining Xerox sales in 1981. His past ventures include founding a recruitment firm, and he launched an Apple dealership in 1988 before going on to found Softcat in 1993.

Started as a mail-order software firm, it has grown to become a major reseller to Microsoft and other large providers, as well as providing data centres for small businesses across the UK.

The group’s sales last year rose 18 pe cent to £596m with profits of £40.6 million. Hellawell said in a statement: “We are delighted with the outcome of the IPO process thus far and now look forward to fully focusing on the running and future development of our business.”

Vin Murria joined the board. She is one of the UK’s longest-standing female IT entrepreneurs, she ran Advanced Computer Software until it was taken over by US private equity group Vista Partners last year in a £725 million deal.

Xerox Alto source code made public

Posted on October 22, 2014 by - News

altoThe code that inspired generations of computer nerds has been made public by the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.

The Xerox Alto computer was important because it was the first attempt and a making a machine that was visual rather than text based. It used a mouse and a WYSIWYG word processor. It was this beastie which was ripped off by Steve Jobs

Conservationists behind making the code available to the public had to archive it to nine-inch tape, before being transferred to eight-millimetre cartridges and then put on CDs.  Then they had to get permission to release the code.

The file includes the Bravo word processor, Markup, Draw and Sil drawing programs, and the Laurel e-mail program. There’s also the BCPL, Mesa, Smalltalk, and Lisp programming environments along with various utilities and the Alto’s Ethernet implementation.

Ethernet was developed for the Alto system using networking software, called Pup (for PARC Universal Packet).  This anticipated the Internet by allowing multiple Ethernet local area networks to be interconnected by leased phone lines, radio links, and the ARPANET (which at this time connected a handful of computers at ARPA research centres).

You can look at the software here 

 

Copy machines pose unlikely security threat

Posted on February 13, 2013 by - Fun Stuff, News

copycatEvery office has them and although paperless offices are the new black, copy machines will probably be around for years to come. However, thousands of old copies stored on hard drives will also stick around.

Most copy machines built in the last decade have a hard drive and can store thousands of documents scanned, copied or emailed using the machine. Some hard drives are big enough to store 60,000 to 100,000 pages of data, so these benevolent dinosaurs are in fact massive security threats lurking in the corner, next to the water cooler.