Xerox Acquires IT Consultant Competitive Computing To Reach More SMBs

“This is part of what we‘re doing to address the need that’s out there for technology support. We are going to be very focused on security and protecting them. We think we have a really winning solution here with our new IT services offering,” said Joanne Collins Smee, executive vice president, chief commercial, SMB and channel officer at Xerox.

Xerox has acquired Colchester, Vt.-based computer consulting firm Competitive Computing (C2) in a move to expand its IT security and cost optimization solutions in the SMB space.

“If you think about our clients today, and SMB clients particularly, there is an increased reliance on technology as a key element of their business success,” Joanne Collins Smee, executive vice president, chief commercial, SMB and channel officer at Xerox, told CRN. “The second thing is technology is burgeoning with complexity because of all the different solutions. Then the pandemic, of course, meant that clients had fewer staff, so things were more complex.

“We have found an incredible interest from our clients that traditionally had bought print from us saying, ‘Can you come in and help us manage the rest of our IT environment?’” she added.

[Related: Xerox Launches CareAR Subsidiary, Receives $10M Investment From ServiceNow]

About 65 employees are coming over to Xerox in the acquisition. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Competitive Computing acquisition expands on two other Xerox acquisitions intended to help Xerox expand its IT services lineup. Xerox acquired both ITEC Connect, a leader in IT services in the U.K., and Digitex, an IT services provider in Canada, in March 2020.

“This is part of what we‘re doing to address the need that’s out there for technology support,” Collins Smee told CRN. “We are going to be very focused on security and protecting them. We think we have a really winning solution here with our new IT services offering.”

The Competitive Computing acquisition brings more technical support expertise to Xerox as well as grow its capacity to serve more clients, she said.

“The reality is SMBs are hit much more frequently by the bad guys than the big firms,” she said, noting the security challenges faced by small businesses. “With cost optimization, they‘re looking [to] use technology to actually have a lower cost profile and drive business success.”

Competitive Computing will initially operate under that name and then move to Xerox Business Solutions, Collins Smee said.

“We are thrilled to join the Xerox IT Services team. After serving Vermont, New England, and national clients for over 28 years, our company and team members are ideally positioned to contribute to the growth of Xerox IT Services,” said Marty Thieret, co-founder and CEO, Competitive Computing, in a statement. “Together with Xerox, we will broaden the portfolio of high-value IT and business services for our expanding client base, offer tremendous employee growth opportunities, and continue investing in the Vermont community.”

Collins Smee said Norwalk, Conn.-based Xerox recently did a survey on the SMB market and found that security is the biggest concern, followed by the burgeoning complexity of operating IT with a limited staff and, thirdly, cost optimization. To help those clients, Xerox now offers IT solutions that include laptop, server, network and router support.

The company is also offering robotic process automation (RPA) services by using the Xerox technology team to evaluate client‘s current business processes, however big or small they are. Xerox then works with the client to document the workflow and build the bots to automate key processes.

“When people think about Xerox, traditionally they think about print and we have evolved to be so much more than that,” Collins Smee said.