Real Business at Xerox

By, Erin Isselmann, Xerox Global Public Relations

Since today is the last Friday in January, it is my last chance to make some New Year resolutions that I hope will help me keep focus in 2012.   Here is what I plan to stop, start and do more of in 2012:

Things I will stop doing:

• Interrupting when someone else is speaking  (Here are tons of reasons and good advice on how to stop)
• Asking for permission (HBR says this is one of the main things that holds managers back)
• Shut down other’s ideas  

Things I will start doing:

• Really listen, so that I can hear what the other person is telling me 
• Not take things too seriously…laughing is a good thing
• Take time to get to know colleagues that I haven’t worked with before

Things I will do more of:

• Pick up the phone and have a live conversation
• Follow my gut instincts
• Try new things and learn from them

Is there anything you want to stop, start or do more of in 2012?

By, Chris Gilligan, Corporate Communications Manager, ACS, A Xerox Company

Robbie and Chris Gilligan

My son Robbie rides the school bus almost every day.   He likes the driver, he’s with his friends and it’s not too long of a commute. Not a bad trip for a nine-year old. But when he has to be there early, I drive him to school. Talk about an eye opening experience!

I can’t imagine anybody being in such a hurry to get to school, the mall or work that they would illegally pass a stopped school bus with kids getting on or off. But I’ve seen it happen. And most bus drivers will tell you it happens at least once a day, every day.

A new Xerox survey found that people are so concerned about this problem that they support putting cameras on the side of buses to help ticket offenders. Sixty-six percent of those surveyed thought this was a good idea. Survey results also show that 77% of respondents agree school bus drivers are too busy doing their job – focusing on student safety – to record information for vehicles illegally passing a stopped school bus.

AAA, a non-profit motor club member service organization and one of the largest driver advocacy groups in the world, also supports the idea. In a Huffington Post column, last month they write: “No doubt, the school bus stop arm camera will change this behavior.” They go on to say that Maryland and Virginia passed school bus stop-arm camera laws this year. Similar laws have been enacted in New York, Connecticut, and Georgia, and in Boston, Mass. Five school districts in North Carolina are currently testing the idea.

The need for this type of safe guard is supported by countless other surveys and studies that show this is a real problem. Sadly, you don’t have to take my word for it. Thirteen children in the U.S. were killed in school bus loading and unloading accidents in the 2009-10 school year, according to the National School Bus Loading and Unloading Survey, conducted by the Kansas State Department of Education. The video evidence of school bus stop-arm violations speaks volumes. This footage taken from a bus camera pilot program will make any concerned parent, driver or citizen want to yell STOP means STOP!

If your city and school district are not using school bus cameras, ask them why not. Robbie and I would appreciate it.

By, Joy Lipari, Vice President, MPS Center of Excellence

CIOs that have successfully deployed Managed Print Services (MPS) often refer to it as “low hanging fruit” for uncovering new sources of cost savings for the business. And it can be – the City of Rochester saved $2 million; Procter and Gamble has printed 8 million fewer pages and cut costs by 21 percent; Los Angeles Trade-Technical College cut costs by $1.5 million and plans to boost student recruitment with more efficient and environmentally-sensitive technology.

But as I told an audience at the Lyra Imaging Symposium today, to get those kind of results, you have to do it right. Here are three keys to success:

Joy Lipari, Xerox, and Bill Haslett, Northrup Grumman, pause for a photo after sharing a case study at the 2012 Lyra Imaging Symposium

1.       Define What You Want: MPS can be a one-time tactical answer to a cost problem or it can deliver long-term benefits to the business. To do it right the first time, you have to define what you want up front. Ask yourself, do you want to:

•  simply take cost out by consolidating print, copy and fax devices?
•  establish a governance process to reduce unnecessary printouts?
•  simplify processes to improve employee productivity?
•  improve document and device security?
•  reduce your environmental footprint?

You can do all of the above if you set specific goals going in, and continually measure them along the way.

2.       Change Management is a Must: 20-30 percent of savings are at risk and never recoverable without a plan to communicate changes and the benefits of MPS to employees. Change of any kind is hard to swallow in an organization, and end user acceptance of an MPS strategy is critical to the success of the project. The most successful MPS clients have a strong change management and governance process.  Xerox clients like P&G have launched commercialization campaigns to help employees better understand the reason for MPS. P&G’s campaign was targeted to business leaders and end users for each site as it underwent transformation and shared information about how the new print environment would make P&G a more sustainable and cost-efficient company.

3.       Manage Print Like You Do Your Balance Sheet: To measure your return on investment, extensive reporting is critical to MPS success. Just as CFOs measure business performance with P&L and balance sheets, CIOs should have a balance sheet to measure the effectiveness of IT assets – from device uptime and utilization, to timely supplies, employee satisfaction and of course, cost savings.

The economic climate raised the profile for print/document output as the last unmanaged frontier when it comes to optimizing IT infrastructure. It’s creating a tremendous market opportunity for vendors but it’s important for clients to understand that success in MPS comes from effective execution, not up front promises. Companies with future plans for MPS should check references and portfolios carefully, and look for validated and clearly measured results.

By Christa Carone, CMO, Xerox Corporation

At Xerox, we tend to walk the walk. 

If you do business with us, you likely hear us talk about how we can simplify your business. We aim to make our clients’ lives easier by streamlining things they do behind the scenes – like processing credit card applications and insurance claims, converting paper files to digital, managing payment systems, staffing call centers, printing millions of documents and handling millions of transactions (even those E-Z Pass ones).  And lots more.

We simply strive to make business life easier.  

A couple of years ago, we acquired Affiliated Computer Services, or ACS, to broaden our business.  While we were talking to our clients about transforming their operations, we didn’t hesitate to take the bold step to transform ours by deepening our expertise in the business process and information technology services world.

Headquartered in Dallas, ACS was this big company with a quiet presence. We turned up the volume. During our transformation, we learned that the Xerox brand, known around the world, is a great asset for ACS.  We increasingly see the value of going to market as one Xerox, one voice, demonstrating to clients that our services-led, technology-driven strategy offers value through the very strength of our brand.

So, we took another step today. We’re retiring the ACS name.  It won’t happen overnight but it also won’t happen over too much time. We’re moving on it.

It will now be simpler for our clients to refer to us and to understand what we can do for their business.  It will be simpler for them to understand that we provide business process outsourcing services. It will be simpler for them to understand that we offer information technology outsourcing services. And it will be very easy for them to understand that we also do document management.

Because now, we’re simply known as Xerox.

By, Guest Blogger, Randy Seberg, CTO, dmh Marketing Partners 

Randy Seberg, CTO, dmh Marketing Partners, addresses the crowd at the 2012 Lyra Imaging Symposium

It doesn’t really matter where I’m speaking – whether in Palm Springs at the Lyra Imaging Symposium or back home in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa – the message of profiting from transformative technologies and trends captures everyone’s attention.  Our philosophy to achieving profit and growth is pretty simple – use the best technology available to help our direct marketing clients connect with their target audiences – in the most impactful and cost effective way.

For us, that means taking risks – pushing boundaries and forging partnerships to get the best the market has to offer.  As a test site for Xerox’s new CiPress 500 Production Inkjet System – the world’s first high-speed, waterless ink jet press – there was a lot at stake. 

As you can imagine, we learned lessons the hard way and we had our share of highs and lows – but ultimately, successes were achieved. I knew testing a new press would have its challenges – but it was so worth the risk.  And what we discovered along the way was the deep satisfaction and reward that comes with partnering with a company that shares the same business goals that we do – and the willingness to make things happen – summarized this way – Do it right now right!

The CiPress is impressive – its advanced waterless inks and robust print process deliver exceptional output on stocks ranging from 50 gsm to 160 gsm. It is ideal for transactional, transpromo and direct mail, books and manuals.  With the press we can quickly adjust to our customers’ requirements.   Before, we had to produce applications on offset, imprint it with a laser, and then go to finishing and fulfillment.   The CiPress 500 has streamlined the production print process – and that’s good because it takes costs out of our processes.  

dmh Marketing Partners is all about generating responses.  With the CiPress 500 we can put multiple versions into a single mail stream, providing greater adaptability for my customers.  That’s a big deal for us and more importantly, for our customers.   It means more profit and growth – a message that resonates in the heartland of America – and all points North, South, East and West.

______________________

The content shared in this blog post is the author’s opinion and does not necessarily reflect the views of Xerox.

By, Jack L Buxbaum, Vice President, HIE services, ACS, a Xerox company

Recently ACS was awarded the contract to implement and manage the Health Information Exchange  (HIE) for the state of Iowa.

But how exactly can HIEs improve healthcare?   

One way to understand is to think about the experience of using an online marketplace like eBay or Amazon, which have scored profiles of sellers and buyers, and summaries of their transactions. With that level of access to information, decisions can be made with near-complete clarity.

Of course, healthcare is much more complex, but there are similarities.  HIE’s that connect a critical mass of Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems across a community, region or state provide caregivers the information, analytics and decision support tools that help in making critical decisions in the care of their patients. 

The industry has developed a standard way of representing these data – a Continuity of Care Document (CCD), which is an electronic document exchange standard for sharing patient summary information.  The CCD can be shared by between information systems that conform to industry accepted interoperability standards that HIE’s must use.

Having a patient’s profile available at the point of care means when Iowans visit a healthcare provider, the focus is on care and not the search for pertinent information or documents.  This leads to improvements in care delivery and reductions in costs associated with unnecessary or duplicate tests. 

If information can be immediately and securely accessed for buying that baseball card or collectible, shouldn’t your healthcare provider have immediate and secure access to the information they need to provide the best possible care?

By, Erin Isselmann, Xerox Global Public Relations

I recently attended an internal Xerox meeting that was like no other I had ever attended in the past.   I knew it was going to be a different type of meeting the moment I received the email with the agenda.   For the first time that I can remember, I didn’t need to prepare a PowerPoint presentation.   

There is always a catch.  So, I looked closely at the agenda and discovered that instead of sharing our plans for the coming year, we were going to participate in a workshop.   Details were scarce, so as I headed out for the meeting, my curiosity was definitely peaked.  

On the first day of the meeting, I found out that the workshop would be led by a On Your Feet, a company that specializes in bringing together the corporate world with improvisational theatre.   I felt a little queasy at the prospect and as I looked at my colleagues I could tell many were skeptical and worried about having to step out of their comfort zone.  

On the car ride from the hotel to the meeting the day of the workshop all the early morning chatter focused on what we were going to be doing.   Would we be forced to mimic animal sounds, bare our innermost secrets, talk about how work makes us feel?  

Our workshop leaders from On Your Feet, quickly set our minds at ease.  There would be no animal sounds today.  We spent time getting to know different things about our colleagues.   To get things started we paired up with a colleague and shared our first nicknames and the story behind them.   Later we helped others find experts within our group who could help them solve real business challenges and spent the afternoon working in small teams to come up with great ideas to take Xerox partnerships to the next level.     

My  favorite activity of the day was listening to a colleague describe an issue that they were facing (non-work related) and then playing back to them what I heard was the true issue behind their concern.    We often think that we are good listeners, but the truth is everyone has room for improvement in actually hearing what another person is trying to tell you.  

I left the meeting feeling energized, focused and ready to try new things.   Getting focused doesn’t mean just getting your work done, it also means that you are able to step away and gain perspective so that you can improve the work you do.

By, John Conley, Vice President of Publishing, Xerox Corporation

The textbook industry is ripe for a digital revolution – as evident today with Apple’s announcement of interactive, digital education materials. But is removing paper completely from the education equation a feasible option – either from learning or a cost perspective? Will students completely swap textbooks, notepads, pens and highlighters for one electronic device?

Paper is paper no matter what level of education and people are hard wired to use it in the learning process. But with digital textbooks, we are moving from classroom lectures to a dynamic, interactive learning experience where the printed textbook will no longer be the main component in the education process.

With iBooks 2 and iBooks Author, customized digital materials can be created to enhance the learning experience – for example, digital textbooks that integrate labs and real-world experiences paired with supplemental printed handouts that are created by instructors. The combination could take learning to a whole different level.

Universities have been asking for digital textbooks for years and with the proper infrastructure in place and content available, we will see a very quick uptick in adoption.

In the K-12 market, AP courses and specialty one-off titles are excellent targets for this solution. It is unknown if adoption states and open-territory school districts could make room in their budgets for a technology infrastructure update of this nature – it seems likely that the printed textbook for the major K-12 series will hold on a bit longer.  

Xerox will continue to play a role in the education process, providing digital print-on-demand solutions in support of the new and more dynamic textbooks enabled by Apple.

So, what do you think – is the textbook revolution a good thing? 

By Devisa Ransom, Analyst Relations Manager, ACS, A Xerox Company

So what’s the big deal?  With over 100 completed acquisitions, why is the latest acquisition of The Breakaway Group by ACS, A Xerox Company, worth more than a nod?  Let’s face it, there’s always a bit of curiosity whenever a corporation completes an acquisition.  What are the benefits… competitive advantages?  As an AR practitioner, I always wait with bated breath to learn if the union will be received positively by our influential industry analysts.     

Based on the number of briefing and information requests received following the announcement, I believe it’s safe to say industry analysts are intrigued… and with good reason.  Let me explain. 

ACS, with the addition of The Breakaway Group, now has a more robust offering that enables hospitals to get quality data into their Electronic Medical Records (EMR) — helping them improve patient care and control costs.  The Breakaway Group developed a proprietary cloud-based service, PromisePoint®, which helps healthcare professionals accelerate their adoption of EMR.  Similar to the way pilots use flight simulation for training and safety, PromisePoint allows caregivers to safely practice entering orders and patient care documents in an environment that simulates software used in a hospital or doctor’s office.  By simulating their environment, they learn to enter orders and document patient care without jeopardizing real patient data. 

Now, ACS not only selects, deploys, integrates and supports EMR technology, but we can also educate and ensure healthcare professionals use the EMR system for clinical benefit.  So, what may have initially appeared to be just another purchase by an acquisitive company turns out to be the formation of a comprehensive, innovative healthcare solution.

So, what’s the big deal?  Let’s see what the analysts are saying.

The Breakaway proposition will have wide appeal to most healthcare providers needing to respond to ICD-10 and other healthcare reform changes, in particular large providers with hundreds of physicians often spread over a wide geographic area such as large practice groups, integrated delivery networks (IDN) and regional extension centers.

Charles Juniper, NelsonHall

The meaningful use incentives associated with adoption of EMR solutions has spurred the slumbering healthcare industry.  Healthcare as a vertical has tremendous opportunity.  It will take partnerships, mergers and acquisitions of like-minded companies to fix this problem.  ACS has shown the foresight to find the gaps in their healthcare solutions and found a solution by acquiring The Breakaway Group.

Mike Huster, Photizo Group

By, Sumer Gregg, Xerox Interactive Marketing

Some consider it “the wild west” with exciting discoveries, limited laws, emerging tools for learning and the ability to share/grow without limits.

I won’t go into too many details about what exactly social media is (if you are reading this, you already know), but for the most part social media delivers a new way to communicate online with anyone.

Average people can be heard by celebrities, small business can directly connect to corporations and oppressed people can even (presumably) change governments. Pop stars like Justin Bieber can even give props to Xerox by saying “Finally we got people tryna be #real.”

At the end of the day, social media is just that – “social”. Like any social situation, you don’t want to know “that guy” who dominates conversations, fakes sincerity or makes up lies because he thinks that’s what people want to hear. You have to listen, be sincere, open and honest, always act with transparency, all of which are core values of Xerox. In other words, Xerox  aims to play well with others, in social media.

Our first jump into social media was with Second Life, a virtual world that was an exciting and new way to connect with customers in a virtual space. We then launched our first Xerox Blog; shortly followed by Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube .  Our social channels have grown so fast, that now we need to make it easy for our audience to follow along.

Today, we opened a one stop shop, the Xerox Social Media Aggregator! Here you can find our diverse Xerox conversations, communities and YouTube playlists.   We hope this brings focus to our social media conversations.  Poke around and you may just discover a new friend or resource that speaks directly to you and your needs.

I highly recommend checking out our new Xerox Social Media Aggregator and let us know what you think by commenting below, or by joining our conversations! Come follow us, we play well with others!