Category Archives: Xerox

Americas, connected cars, Denso, Ford, General Motors, Internet of Things, IoT, Iteris, M2M, Navistar, News & Analysis, Qualcomm, Verizon, Xerox

Verizon, Qualcomm among Mcity partners testing IoT, automated cars

Verizon is teaming up with the University of Michigan to test connected and automated cars

Verizon is teaming up with the University of Michigan to test connected and automated cars

Verizon and Qualcomm are among 15 partners launching Mcity at the University of Michigan this week, a controlled testing environment for connected and automated vehicles that the project participants claim could clear the path for mass-market adoption of driverless cars.

The facility will allow researchers to simulate environments where connected and automated vehicles will be most challenged – for instance where road signs may be defaced by graffiti, or when traffic lights become faulty or break.

“There are many challenges ahead as automated vehicles are increasingly deployed on real roadways,” said Peter Sweatman, director of the University of Michigan Mobility Transformation Center. “Mcity is a safe, controlled, and realistic environment where we are going to figure out how the incredible potential of connected and automated vehicles can be realized quickly, efficiently and safely.”

Michigan – particularly the City of Detroit – has a longstanding (and to some extent troubled) history in automotive, but the University said the facility will help the State regain its leadership in the sector. The project builds on a 3,000 vehicle connected car project launched three years ago and co-funded by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation

As part of its participation with the project Verizon will be contributing its telematics technology, In-Drive, and is offering its own research into vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies. It will also help explore various ways to combine mobility, telematics and IoT services.

Other project partners include Iteris, Navistar, Denso, Ford, General Motors, Qualcomm and Xerox; each partner is investing about $1m into the project over the next three years.

Amit Jain, director of corporate strategy, IoT verticals at Verizon said the project will help create new vendor-agnostic and OEM-agnostic services that could improve road and pedestrian safety.

“Placing the onus on OEMs only to deploy technologies such as Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), for example, could take up to 37 years according to the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA). That’s why creating opportunities like Mcity to pool research and share best practices to expedite innovation is so important,” Jain said.

“Consider the fact that there are more than 30,000 fatalities in the US annually caused by vehicle accidents – of which 14 percent of those fatalities involve pedestrians. As part of our participation in Mcity, we will be involved in tailored research to explore how smart phones can be used to further enhance vehicle-to-pedestrian communications.”

Verizon has moved over the past few years to bolster its legacy M2M portfolio (industrial M2M, telematics) with the addition of new IoT services, which according to the telco now constitute a growing portion of its overall revenues – particularly connected cars. In a Q2 2015 earnings call with journalists and analysts this week Verizon’s chief financial officer Francis Shammo said that although IoT is still quite a nascent sector it raked in about $165m for the quarter and $320m year-to-date.

“As far as Internet of Things, we think that the transportation, healthcare, and energy industries in particular present great opportunities for us and we are very active fostering innovation in these areas,” Shammo said. “We are very well-positioned to capitalize on these new growth opportunities and we will continue to develop business models to monetize usage on our network and at the platform level.”

Atos, M&A, Managed services, Michel-Alain Proch, News & Analysis, outsourcing, Thierry Breton, Xerox

Atos completes acquisition of Xerox’s IT outsourcing biz

Atos has finalised the acquisition of Xerox's outsourcing business

Atos has finalised the acquisition of Xerox’s outsourcing business

French IT services outfit Atos announced this week the company has completed its €811m acquisition of Xerox’s IT outsourcing business, a move the companies said would give the combined entity a massive leap forward in the outsourcing market.

Originally announced on the tail end of last year Atos and Xerox agreed to a net total acquisition price of $966m (€ 811m), composed of $950m and an additional $50m assuming certain performance metrics were hit, plus $100m representing the estimated value of future tax benefits to Atos.

Xerox’s ITO business includes about 9,800 employees in 45 countries, with most – 4,500 – based in the US and more than 3,800 in global delivery countries.

Atos said the move, which gives it some strong capabilities in business process outsource and document outsourcing, means North America becomes its largest segment. While the company is popular in the Europe and the UK it’s currently ranked number 9 in North America in terms of outsourcing revenue.

“Today marks a major step in the development of the Atos Group, as we welcome 9,600 Xerox ITO employees to Atos,” said Thierry Breton, Chairman and chief executive of Atos. “With the US now our largest market, we have a stronger and more balanced global presence, which combined with our digital skills, allows us to be the trusted partner for our clients’ digital journey anywhere in the world.”

The companies also announced a deal that would see Atos become one of Xerox’s primary IT service providers globally.

Michel-Alain Proch, group senior executive vice president and recently appointed chief executive of Atos’s North American operations added: “Together with Xerox teams, we have worked extensively to be ready from day one post-closing and we are now fully operational to ensure continued delivery of services to our clients while at the same time leveraging the combined strengths of the two groups for profitable growth.”

Customer Relationship Management, M&A Activity, Mobile, Telecommunication, Xerox

Xerox Acquires UK-based WDS for Wireless Customer Experience Management

Xerox  has signed a definitive agreement to acquire WDS, a firm that provides technical support, knowledge management and related consulting to the world’s largest wireless telecommunication brands.

WDS uses a proprietary cloud-based platform called GlobalMineTM to capture, analyze and manage millions of technical support interactions across thousands of different mobile device types. WDS uses this data to help clients adjust, in real-time, any systemic issues and/or customer experience problems that their end-users may be experiencing with their devices or service.

Based in the United Kingdom, WDS has over 2,000 employees in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

“WDS’s expertise in the telecommunications industry strengthens Xerox’s already broad portfolio of customer care solutions – differentiating us as a trusted partner for a rapidly evolving industry that requires reliable, accessible and scalable ways to support the complexity of their consumers’ needs,” said Chris Tranquill, president of the Xerox Telecommunications and Technology group.

Through its more than 48,000 call center employees who support clients in 150 locations, Xerox is a leading provider of customer care solutions, handling more than a million consumer interactions every day via the phone and Web.

Founded in 1995, WDS is led by CEO David Ffoulkes-Jones, who will continue with the company after the acquisition closes. “By focusing on the customer experience, wireless brands can drive greater loyalty and differentiation,” said Ffoulkes-Jones. “With Xerox, we now have the ability to accelerate our global expansion, add more value to our customers and deliver greater opportunities to our employees.”


Customer Relationship Management, M&A Activity, Mobile, Technical support, Xerox

Xerox Acquires UK-based WDS for Wireless Customer Experience Management

Xerox  has signed a definitive agreement to acquire WDS, a firm that provides technical support, knowledge management and related consulting to the world’s largest wireless telecommunication brands.

WDS uses a proprietary cloud-based platform called GlobalMineTM to capture, analyze and manage millions of technical support interactions across thousands of different mobile device types. WDS uses this data to help clients adjust, in real-time, any systemic issues and/or customer experience problems that their end-users may be experiencing with their devices or service.

Based in the United Kingdom, WDS has over 2,000 employees in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

“WDS’s expertise in the telecommunications industry strengthens Xerox’s already broad portfolio of customer care solutions – differentiating us as a trusted partner for a rapidly evolving industry that requires reliable, accessible and scalable ways to support the complexity of their consumers’ needs,” said Chris Tranquill, president of the Xerox Telecommunications and Technology group.

Through its more than 48,000 call center employees who support clients in 150 locations, Xerox is a leading provider of customer care solutions, handling more than a million consumer interactions every day via the phone and Web.

Founded in 1995, WDS is led by CEO David Ffoulkes-Jones, who will continue with the company after the acquisition closes. “By focusing on the customer experience, wireless brands can drive greater loyalty and differentiation,” said Ffoulkes-Jones. “With Xerox, we now have the ability to accelerate our global expansion, add more value to our customers and deliver greater opportunities to our employees.”


Customer Relationship Management, Customer service, M&A Activity, Mobile, Technical support, Telecommunication, Xerox

Xerox Acquires UK-based WDS for Wireless Customer Experience Management

Xerox  has signed a definitive agreement to acquire WDS, a firm that provides technical support, knowledge management and related consulting to the world’s largest wireless telecommunication brands.

WDS uses a proprietary cloud-based platform called GlobalMineTM to capture, analyze and manage millions of technical support interactions across thousands of different mobile device types. WDS uses this data to help clients adjust, in real-time, any systemic issues and/or customer experience problems that their end-users may be experiencing with their devices or service.

Based in the United Kingdom, WDS has over 2,000 employees in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

“WDS’s expertise in the telecommunications industry strengthens Xerox’s already broad portfolio of customer care solutions – differentiating us as a trusted partner for a rapidly evolving industry that requires reliable, accessible and scalable ways to support the complexity of their consumers’ needs,” said Chris Tranquill, president of the Xerox Telecommunications and Technology group.

Through its more than 48,000 call center employees who support clients in 150 locations, Xerox is a leading provider of customer care solutions, handling more than a million consumer interactions every day via the phone and Web.

Founded in 1995, WDS is led by CEO David Ffoulkes-Jones, who will continue with the company after the acquisition closes. “By focusing on the customer experience, wireless brands can drive greater loyalty and differentiation,” said Ffoulkes-Jones. “With Xerox, we now have the ability to accelerate our global expansion, add more value to our customers and deliver greater opportunities to our employees.”


Florida, Government, Health Care, Health insurance, HIX, Medical, Partnerships, Xerox

Xerox to Build Health Insurance Marketplace for Florida Health Choices

Florida Health Choices, a corporation established by the state to improve access to health care, has selected Xerox to administer its Insurance Marketplace, a program designed to give small business and eligible individuals more flexibility in finding affordable health insurance and other services. The nine-year contract is valued at $68 million.

With partner CHOICE Administrators Exchange Solutions, Xerox will provide a cloud-based Web portal and online plan selection tool to give consumers and employers more information when making health insurance selections. The solution preserves the benefits of employer-sponsored insurance and eases the administrative burden for small businesses.

“We’re designing and supporting programs that increase access to health coverage for consumers,” said Will Saunders, group president, Government Healthcare Solutions, Xerox. “The solution we create in Florida will serve citizens and small business owners and help position the state as a leader in establishing a competitive and voluntary health insurance marketplace for small employers.”

Xerox will also provide eligibility determination and enrollment management services for the program, and operate a customer contact center to share information on marketplace offerings. These services will help Florida Health Choices handle the massive amounts of information involved with the marketplace quickly, efficiently and securely.

“We need a partner who can get a fully functional marketplace setup that is designed to serve Floridians now and into the future – delivering on both our short and long-term goals,” said Aaron Bean, chairman, board of directors, Florida Health Choices. “We’re confident Xerox will support us in establishing our marketplace quickly, while helping us to increase healthcare access to small business employees – one of our key priorities.”

Xerox has more than 40 years of experience working with government health agencies to enhance the efficiency of health programs and help ensure the health of citizens.


Government, Health care reform, Health Insurance Exchange, HIX, Insurance, Medical, Partnerships, Xerox

Xerox, CHOICE Administrators Team to Deliver Health Insurance Exchanges for States

Xerox

Xerox has formed an alliance with CHOICE Administrators Exchange Solutions in all 50 states to offer a comprehensive, secure, cloud-based Health Insurance Exchange (HIX) solution. States can begin implementing and customizing the solution today with confidence that the HIX will be fully operational for October 2013 enrollments and for January 2014 coverage effective dates, the deadlines set by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

“Our discussions with states show that the majority want to make health reform as state-specific as possible and to maintain control over their HIX rather than defaulting to the federal solution,” said Kevin Counihan, president, CHOICE Administrators Exchange Solutions. “As the certification deadline gets closer, it’s increasingly important for states to consider a comprehensive solution that doesn’t require building a product and allows time for customization. States can tailor their HIX solution developed by Xerox and CHOICE to meet the needs of their residents and small businesses and be sure their HIX is ready on time.”

CHOICE Administrators Exchange Solutions delivers the framework of the HIX Solution Suite, a software-as-a-service cloud-based platform, which allows participants to make informed enrollment decisions while providing their sponsoring employers the infrastructure to maintain affordable budgets. Xerox provides the business process and technology solutions to help states operating a HIX handle massive amounts of information quickly, efficiently and securely on behalf of millions of people.

“Xerox has more than 40 years of experience working with state governments,” said Kevin Walsh, vice president, Healthcare Eligibility and Insurance Exchange Services, Xerox. “Our expertise, knowledge of the marketplace and partnership with CHOICE positions us well to support the HIX design to increase access to health coverage for consumers.”