Interesting...what is this thing they speak of?
I hadn't heard of this, but I saw a quick announcement and decided to pass it along.
In a nutshell, this looks like a "membership" card offering discounts and goodies - if anyone has seen or used it, let me know.
The HP Total Care Access Card provides exclusive access to software, services and discounts from HP and industry-leading vendors, making it easier for small businesses to manage, protect and grow their businesses while saving money.
"Our small business customers have told us they want to work smarter, protect their resources, and grow their names and businesses while simultaneously saving money, and so we've created the HP Total Care Access Card," said John Dayan, vice president, Worldwide Marketing Operations, Personal Systems Group, HP. "By combining HP's strengths with those of select partners, we can offer simple financing, security, energy savings, marketing, online backup and storage solutions in a single package."
Original article, here.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Managed Print Services and the Economic Environment - Good or Bad?
MPS cuts costs - so why are your not phones ringing off the hook?
Jim Lyons and the crew over at Photozio are asking you, me, all of us, how is the world treating you?
From Jim's post:
"...The Photizo Group is taking a ground-level view, too and in addition to more scientific approaches, we're going straight to our web visitors with a simply online survey. The purpose of this study is to gain your thoughts and views regarding how the current economic climate will impact the demand and opportunity for Managed Print Services (MPS). In return for responding to this survey, we will provide you with a copy of our September issue of the MPS Insights Journal, the only publication which focuses exclusively upon MPS best practices, issues, and user profiles..."
Head over and let them know how it's going in the "trenches". It's only five questions.
Jim Lyons and the crew over at Photozio are asking you, me, all of us, how is the world treating you?
From Jim's post:
"...The Photizo Group is taking a ground-level view, too and in addition to more scientific approaches, we're going straight to our web visitors with a simply online survey. The purpose of this study is to gain your thoughts and views regarding how the current economic climate will impact the demand and opportunity for Managed Print Services (MPS). In return for responding to this survey, we will provide you with a copy of our September issue of the MPS Insights Journal, the only publication which focuses exclusively upon MPS best practices, issues, and user profiles..."
Head over and let them know how it's going in the "trenches". It's only five questions.
Ursula M. Burns- Xerox President - Shares Six Lessons Learned
She helped Xerox rebound, now shares six lessons learned, in the face of new challenges.
Burns climbed the ladder after joining the "X" in 1980.
And when Xerox was going through it's "troubles" back in the beginning of the decade - she negotiated with unions to reduce thousands of jobs. Not an easy task.
Here are six lessons she learned from earlier troubles at Xerox.
Communicate. "Whenever you're in a crisis you have to talk," she said. And that doesn't mean dumbing down the challenges the company faces. Workers respond when executives are truthful.
Know the culture. Xerox has worked to build diversity of all kinds to gain a wide array of perspectives. That's a key part of its success, Burns said.
But it also has been bureaucratic and slow to change. Burns said navigating tough times requires embracing the best of the corporate culture and stripping away those parts that can hurt growth.
Have a vision. Xerox was beat up by the press amid its financial struggles. So, Xerox wrote a pretend front-page story that showed how it should be portrayed in the best of times.
"That was our aspirational vision," Burns said.
People matter. The best strategy devised by legions of consultants is worthless without a work force willing to adapt.
"When you're really in trouble, the people are what saves you."
Customers matter, too. "The customer is the center of the universe," Burns said. Xerox used to develop technology and expect customers to adjust. That didn't work. Customers aren't always right, she said, "but you can't tell them they're wrong."
Leadership is key. A bad leader will quickly destroy any progress. Good leaders are humble, focused and human. They "put the enterprise before themselves," she said.
Nov 11, 2008 (The News & Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX)
Burns climbed the ladder after joining the "X" in 1980.
And when Xerox was going through it's "troubles" back in the beginning of the decade - she negotiated with unions to reduce thousands of jobs. Not an easy task.
-"Right when you think you're set ... you get snafued," said Burns, who rose to the No. 2 spot at the iconic company in 2007. "You can hardly ever relax."-
Here are six lessons she learned from earlier troubles at Xerox.
Communicate. "Whenever you're in a crisis you have to talk," she said. And that doesn't mean dumbing down the challenges the company faces. Workers respond when executives are truthful.
Know the culture. Xerox has worked to build diversity of all kinds to gain a wide array of perspectives. That's a key part of its success, Burns said.
But it also has been bureaucratic and slow to change. Burns said navigating tough times requires embracing the best of the corporate culture and stripping away those parts that can hurt growth.
Have a vision. Xerox was beat up by the press amid its financial struggles. So, Xerox wrote a pretend front-page story that showed how it should be portrayed in the best of times.
"That was our aspirational vision," Burns said.
People matter. The best strategy devised by legions of consultants is worthless without a work force willing to adapt.
"When you're really in trouble, the people are what saves you."
Customers matter, too. "The customer is the center of the universe," Burns said. Xerox used to develop technology and expect customers to adjust. That didn't work. Customers aren't always right, she said, "but you can't tell them they're wrong."
Leadership is key. A bad leader will quickly destroy any progress. Good leaders are humble, focused and human. They "put the enterprise before themselves," she said.
Nov 11, 2008 (The News & Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX)
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Xerox Laying Off - Ceases Toner Production
At the plant in Oklahoma...
About 100 of the 170 employees at the Oklahoma City plant will be laid off and toner manufacturing will cease.
Officials say consumers are using newer equipment that uses different toners and the need for black toner product has decreased.
The Xerox facility broke ground in Oklahoma City 34 years ago.
Couple this with X's announcement last month of 3,000 layoffs globally, and the new plant in Webster and there really isn't any surprise here.
Xerox Reports Third-Quarter 2008 Earnings
(Norwalk, Conn.) -- Xerox Corporation announced third-quarter earnings of 29 cents per share.
Xerox said the profit edged up 2 percent, topping Wall Street's forecast, as sales to smaller businesses helped offset weakness in large U.S. corporations.
crimping the Norwalk, Conn.-based company's sales growth and causing it to miss the consensus revenue prediction.
Xerox's sales grew just 2 percent, to $4.37 billion, short of the $4.47 billion that analysts polled by Jhomson Reuters were expecting. Sales would have been flat were it not for a weak U.S.
dollar.
Net income was $258 million, or 29 cents per share, a penny per share higher than the average analyst estimate. In the year-ago period, net income was $254 million, or 27 cents per share.
Check these out:
About 100 of the 170 employees at the Oklahoma City plant will be laid off and toner manufacturing will cease.
Officials say consumers are using newer equipment that uses different toners and the need for black toner product has decreased.
The Xerox facility broke ground in Oklahoma City 34 years ago.
Couple this with X's announcement last month of 3,000 layoffs globally, and the new plant in Webster and there really isn't any surprise here.
Xerox Reports Third-Quarter 2008 Earnings
(Norwalk, Conn.) -- Xerox Corporation announced third-quarter earnings of 29 cents per share.
Xerox said the profit edged up 2 percent, topping Wall Street's forecast, as sales to smaller businesses helped offset weakness in large U.S. corporations.
-Bigger companies bought less new equipment from the printer and copier maker-
crimping the Norwalk, Conn.-based company's sales growth and causing it to miss the consensus revenue prediction.
Xerox's sales grew just 2 percent, to $4.37 billion, short of the $4.47 billion that analysts polled by Jhomson Reuters were expecting. Sales would have been flat were it not for a weak U.S.
dollar.
Net income was $258 million, or 29 cents per share, a penny per share higher than the average analyst estimate. In the year-ago period, net income was $254 million, or 27 cents per share.
Check these out:
The Death of Xerography
Opinions, Everybody's Got One
Friday, November 7, 2008
Imaging Industry Wall Street Insider - New Blog
"Sub Prime"
In our industry, 95% of our transactions are leased and have been since the beginning.
Most customers and most selling professionals really do not know the intricacies involved with leasing and lease agreements and how the overall economic environment effect these basic pillars of our trade.
Well, I scrounged up a pretty good post over at Imaging Industry Wall Street Insider regarding this subject.
Enjoy.
And check out the Team at Woodford Group
In our industry, 95% of our transactions are leased and have been since the beginning.
Most customers and most selling professionals really do not know the intricacies involved with leasing and lease agreements and how the overall economic environment effect these basic pillars of our trade.
Well, I scrounged up a pretty good post over at Imaging Industry Wall Street Insider regarding this subject.
Enjoy.
And check out the Team at Woodford Group
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Starbucks and HP?
"Put that Coffee Down...Coffee's for Closers
LOS ANGELES, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Thursday that Chief Financial Officer Pete Bocian will leave the coffee chain at the end of the month to join computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) as chief administrative officer.
Bocian, 54, had a short tenure at Seattle-based Starbucks, which has been closing U.S. stores as it grapples to revive its flagging domestic business amid the weak economy.
Bocian joined Starbucks in April 2007 from NCR Corp (NCR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), a maker of automated teller machines (ATMs), and became CFO in October 2007, a company spokeswoman said.
Troy Alstead, 45, Starbucks' senior vice president of global finance, will succeed Bocian.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Larry Miller said he held Bocian in very high regard.
"I'm a little surprised. He hasn't been there very long," Miller said, noting that it seemed like Bocian was moving on to a good position.
Still, Miller said, "Nobody likes change on the investor side ... Anytime there is a change in management it brings questions."
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