Following on from the furore around the now-defunct deal with Fujifilm, Xerox’s partners say they are keen to get back to business and focus on what they “do best”.
As CRN reveals, the emphasis for the OEM’s partners is ‘business as usual’, now that the “high-stakes drama” surrounding the proposed deal with Fujifilm has drawn to a tumultuous close; at least for the moment.
“I’m just really glad that the public battlefield is going to be behind us, or at least not in the news all the time,” said Troy Tafoya, President of Professional Document Solutions, a Fort Collins, Colo., solution provider and Xerox partner. “So that’s really the best news out of it. I just hope that what they did is in the best interest of Xerox employees and our customers, and not just stock prices.”
According to JustTech’s President, Josh Justice, both Carl Icahn’s “group” and the previous Board of Xerox “are cognisant of the role that channel partners play in the company’s success”, which prompts him to feel positive.
“I’m honestly glad the ambiguity is over and a permanent decision has been made as to the current leadership of Xerox and the board members,” he said. “It is my hope that the new leadership will reach out to us, their partners, and discuss the best ways we can together serve our clients.”
Commenting on the battle of words which had been blazing on an almost daily basis between shareholders Icahn and Darwin Deason and the former Xerox Board, Tafoya say that it was “like Groundhog Day.”
“The board’s in, the board’s out. And I just hope that the new board that Xerox is going to have is invested in their partners and is looking for continued growth and doing what’s best to continue this iconic brand and make it as good as it can be.”
However, the instatement of new Board members, including a new CEO, and the official demise of the proposed deal with Fujifilm means that partners feel things are returning to normal and business can resume as usual.
“I think the best thing is that it’s settled,” Tafoya said. “We can continue to do what we do best.”
“Carl Icahn’s proposal emphasized the need for Xerox’s partners in providing products and solutions, just as we do now,” Justice concluded. “I advised my team to expect additional changes to be announced by Xerox but that I do not expect these changes to have a direct effect on us.”
