Xerox Reinvention: Channel Partners in the Driving Seat

May 7, 2025
Channel, Artificial Intelligence, Article, Trends

At the Xerox Global Partner Summit in March 2025, themed ‘High Performance, Ultimate Returns’, a powerful narrative unfolded: Xerox is placing its channel partners firmly in the driver’s seat of its ambitious Reinvention journey. The theme of ‘High Performance, Ultimate Returns’, aligning with the company’s high-profile partnership with Aston Martin in Formula 1, was further cemented by a focus on product innovation and the integration of strategic acquisitions such as Lexmark and ITsavvy. The event, drawing partners from across the globe, highlighted how crucial these collaborations are to delivering future-proof workplace productivity and collaboration solutions.

Quocirca examines the main takeaways, showcasing the significant opportunities available to channel partners that are ready to help steer Xerox towards its next phase of growth.

Bold ambitions

Xerox has been navigating a period of significant transition, leading to questions about its future direction. Over the past two years, Xerox has embarked on its ‘Reinvention’, preparing itself for the next stage of its journey under the leadership of its CEO, Steve Bandrowczak.

The company is executing a strategic transformation to establish itself as a global technology provider, actively diversifying revenue streams through the expansion of IT and digital services and reinforcing its partner network while sustaining its core print business. Investments in Lexmark, ITsavvy, and Go Inspire demonstrate a focused effort to develop capabilities in adjacent growth sectors, positioning Xerox to deliver comprehensive digital workplace solutions.

The company’s 2025 growth objectives centre on the execution of its Reinvention strategy, initiated in 2024. This prioritises strategic partnerships and operational simplification to drive growth, with a clear emphasis on enhancing channel partner effectiveness through improved partner tools and support. In particular, this includes a new Global Partner Organisation and Advisory Partner Councils.

Lexmark acquisition set to drive product innovation and market share

The acquisition of Lexmark, which is expected to close in the second half of 2025, is driven by product innovation, targeted A3 and A4 market expansion, and a desire to gain greater access to the mid-market and lower end of the large enterprise market. The acquisition will expand channel partner opportunities by providing a more diverse and innovative product portfolio, enabling Xerox to address a wider range of customer needs and drive revenue growth. Notably, it strengthens the company’s position within the expanding A4 colour print market and optimises the supply chain, improving global market access, especially in the substantial APAC region.

Ultimately, by delivering a comprehensive product and service portfolio, Xerox aims to equip its channel partners with a stronger competitive position within the evolving print landscape. It remains to be seen how Xerox will leverage the existing Lexmark channel from a hardware and software integration perspective.

Read more on Quocirca’s perspective of the Lexmark acquisition here.

Xerox’s IT services play

The acquisition of ITsavvy allows Xerox to make inroads into a $698 billion total addressable market (TAM) projected to grow at an 8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). ITsavvy’s established strength in IT services, specifically within cloud and hosting, network and security, collaboration, and hybrid workforce solutions, should significantly enhance Xerox’s capabilities. This partnership will elevate Xerox’s strategic OEM relationships with major technology providers, including Microsoft, Dell, HP, and Cisco.

Xerox IT Solutions, leveraging ITsavvy’s expertise, offers channel partners access to build and expand their IT services capabilities and strategic guidance from Xerox for business expansion. Partners will benefit from increased scale, targeted training, and new collaborative growth opportunities. As with the Lexmark acquisition, how effectively Xerox manages to embrace and align ITsavvy’s capabilities with its own existing solutions will be key to future success.

The ITsavvy acquisition represents a strategic move by Xerox to rapidly expand its presence in high-growth IT service sectors. This acquisition not only provides immediate access to a substantial market but also strengthens Xerox’s position as a comprehensive technology solution provider. By integrating IT Savvy’s expertise and leveraging existing technology vendor relationships, Xerox is creating a compelling value proposition for its channel partners, facilitating their transition into the evolving digital workplace landscape. Given IT Savvy’s current focus on the UK, US, and Canada, it will be particularly interesting to observe how Xerox leverages its global footprint to expand ITsavvy’s service offerings into other regions.

Expanded AI-enabled digital services

Xerox Digital Services encompasses a broad range of solutions designed to help businesses digitise and automate their document-centric workflows, moving beyond traditional print. Xerox has demonstrated some core intelligent document processing (IDP) solutions directly embedded into its MFPs, which offer on-device AI-based document processing features such as content translation and redaction.

Its notable emphasis on AI-driven IDP presents substantial opportunities for Xerox’s partner network. By integrating AI into document workflows, partners can offer clients advanced solutions for data extraction, automation, and process optimisation, addressing the growing demand for intelligent information management.

This should allow partners to deliver enhanced value, differentiate their offerings, and capitalise on the increasing need for AI-powered digital workflow automation solutions.

Xerox has also expanded its suite of ConnectKey workflow apps, many of which have been custom built by channel partners. Interesting sustainability-focused solutions include the Ecobox Europe app, developed by French Xerox Authorised Developer TBC, which allows customers to order empty Ecoboxes to recover Xerox consumables directly from the MFP screen, and Xerox Summarizer, which uses AI to effectively summarise lengthy documents.

Quocirca opinion

Xerox has demonstrated notable progress since its previous conference, evidenced by strategic acquisitions, the establishment of a more cohesive global partner organisation, and the integration of AI across its digital services portfolio. The company’s embrace of AI and digital transformation signals a clear commitment to future-proofing its offerings. This forward momentum is further reinforced by continued innovation within its core business, particularly in managed print services (MPS), which is powered by advanced analytics to help customers further optimise their print environment through detailed security, sustainability metrics, and what-if analysis.

The continued move away from an internally focused, ‘Xerox-first’ model toward a more active and inclusive partner/channel-focused approach should help Xerox reinvent itself and continue to be a driving force in the market.

Overall, Xerox’s future success ultimately relies on the effective integration of both the Lexmark and ITsavvy acquisitions to help it capitalise on the anticipated market expansion. Ultimately, Xerox’s ability to maintain this trajectory will be determined by its capacity to navigate the complexities of integration and drive innovation across its product portfolio as the market continues to consolidate.

Read more:
– Quocirca’s perspective on the Lexmark Acquisition
– Quocirca interview with John Bruno, COO of Xerox
– Quocirca interview with Steve Bandrowczak, CEO of Xerox

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