Techaisle Blog

In today's data-driven landscape, organizations grapple with myriad challenges stemming from the increasing volume, velocity, and complexity of data. These challenges encompass data governance and management, the need for predictive and prescriptive analytics, the democratization of insights, and the rapid pace of technological advancements. To address these complexities, Zoho has introduced a new AI-powered self-service BI and analytics platform.

Since 2009, Zoho has been a prominent BI and analytics platform player, offering a robust foundation for data management and preparation. Zoho's self-service analytics platform is highly versatile and capable of running on Zoho's cloud, third-party clouds, or on-premises. Furthermore, Zoho caters to the embedded market, enabling third-party applications to leverage its analytics capabilities for insights within their business tools. As of the end of 2023, Zoho serves a substantial customer base of 17,000 directly paying organizations for Zoho Analytics, with over 70,000 businesses utilizing Zoho Analytics daily, embedded as part of any other Zoho apps. While Zoho One is widely recognized as its flagship suite of applications, the widespread adoption of Zoho Analytics within Zoho One, second only to Zoho CRM, across customer and employee experience applications, finance, marketing, and low-code applications, underscores its simplicity, reliability, and value.

Zoho Analytics is a powerful tool that offers both descriptive and prescriptive capabilities, enabling businesses to extract valuable insights and make informed decisions. Its descriptive features allow users to delve into historical data, understand past business trends, and identify key drivers. On the other hand, its prescriptive capabilities, driven by machine learning and AI, provide actionable recommendations to tackle specific business challenges. This includes features like decision intelligence, which assists users in understanding the root causes of certain events and how to respond effectively. By integrating these two types of analytics, Zoho Analytics not only helps businesses comprehend their past performance but also guides them in making proactive decisions to enhance future outcomes.

Let us explore why Zoho is emerging as a market differentiator in AI-powered self-service BI and analytics platforms. Its unique blend of features and capabilities makes it a compelling choice for organizations seeking to harness the power of data-driven insights.

Data Velocity and Diversity - A Modern Challenge

In today's digital age, organizations rely on many applications to manage their operations, resulting in a deluge of data. With modern enterprises often utilizing over 100 applications, the volume and variety of data generated are staggering, encompassing both structured and unstructured formats. To address this challenge, Zoho offers a comprehensive data management hub that provides a solid foundation for organizations to handle their data effectively. Zoho's platform excels in data integration, supporting over 500 data sources and facilitating real-time stream processing. This enables businesses to extract data from cloud data warehouses, files, feeds, and other unstructured sources seamlessly. Moreover, Zoho's commitment to innovation is evident in its ongoing expansion of data connectors, with plans to add 25 more soon. The platform's ability to process data in real-time from systems like Kafka, PubNub, or Cloud PubSub empowers organizations to efficiently collect and analyze data from diverse sources, regardless of their structure or format.

Xerox, synonymous with photocopying, has embarked on a bold transformation to remain relevant in the digital age. From its humble beginnings as a copier manufacturer to its status as a diversified technology services company, Xerox's journey is a testament to its resilience and adaptability. Groundbreaking innovations punctuate Xerox's history. The introduction of the plain paper copier in the 1950s revolutionized document reproduction, and the company's subsequent development of the graphical user interface (GUI) and computer mouse laid the foundation for modern computing. The laser printer, another Xerox invention, further cemented its position as a technology pioneer. However, the rise of digital technology and the decline of traditional printing posed significant challenges to the company.  Xerox began a strategic shift towards IT Services with the 2010 acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), rebranded as “Conduent” and spun off as a separate business services division in 2016.  The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift towards remote work and digital document management.  While Xerox saw a decline in traditional office printing, it also identified new opportunities in emerging segments, demonstrating its agility and forward-thinking approach, which should give us all optimism about its future. 

It was my great pleasure to speak with John G. Bruno, Xerox's President and Chief Operating Officer. The conversation covered a broad array of subjects, focusing on Xerox's strategy for Reinvention. 

The traditional office environment has undergone a seismic shift with the rise of remote and hybrid work models. Once synonymous with physical document management, Xerox is adapting to this new reality by strategically balancing the preservation of its core print business with a bold venture into Digital Services and IT Services. While print remains a critical component of Xerox's operations, the company recognizes the growing demand for digital tools. It is investing heavily in technologies that can extract value from documents in a digital format. 

Xerox's foray into digital services is driven by the understanding that information is increasingly digitized. The company is developing services to capture, process, and analyze content from various sources, including physical documents. By doing so, Xerox aims to position itself as a trusted partner for businesses seeking to optimize their document workflows and extract valuable insights from their data. 

Furthermore, Xerox is expanding its service offerings to include IT services, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses. By providing a comprehensive suite of IT services, including managed security and cloud solutions, Xerox is addressing the growing technology needs of this market segment. This strategic move diversifies the company's revenue streams and strengthens client relationships. In essence, Xerox is evolving from a hardware-centric company to a technology-driven organization that empowers businesses to navigate the digital landscape. 

The company's Reinvention strategy is threefold. This three-pronged approach demonstrates Xerox's commitment to preserving its core print business, simplifying its operations to improve the client and employee experience, and capitalizing on the opportunities presented by the digital revolution. 

1. Strengthening the Core Print Business:

Xerox aims to maintain its leadership in the print industry by focusing on efficiency and productivity, reducing costs, and capturing growing segments like home office printing and production print. Despite the rise of digital platforms, print remains a significant market, and Xerox is determined to solidify its position as a leader in this space. As remote work and hybrid work models become the norm, the demand for home printers is expected to rise. Xerox is positioning itself to capitalize on this trend by offering high-quality, user-friendly printers to address the evolving needs of hybrid workers.   On the other end of the spectrum, Xerox also focuses on production print. This segment caters to businesses with high-volume printing needs, such as publishing houses, advertising agencies, and direct mail companies. Xerox aims to increase its market share in this lucrative sector by investing in advanced printing technologies and workflow solutions. 

2. Driving Efficiency and Growth through Global Business Services:

A key component of the Xerox Reinvention is the formation of a new Global Business Services organization. By centralizing internal processes and leveraging shared capabilities, Xerox aims to simplify operations, reduce costs, and improve the overall client and employee experience. This, in turn, frees up resources for investment in growth areas, such as emerging technologies and digital services. As Xerox continues to evolve, the Global Business Services organization will play a pivotal role in ensuring the company's long-term success. 

3. Expanding into Digital Services and IT Services:

Recognizing the digital transformation, Xerox is investing heavily in digital services, including intelligent document processing, content management, and data capture. The company also sees significant potential in IT services, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses. Recognizing the inevitable shift towards digitalization, Xerox is increasingly investing in digital services. At the heart of this strategy is intelligent document processing, which involves extracting valuable information from physical and digital documents. This technology is crucial for businesses looking to automate workflows, improve efficiency, and gain insights from their data. In addition to document processing, Xerox is focusing on customer engagement services, whereby Xerox helps companies utilize proprietary content to more effectively target and communicate with their customers, even designing and implementing omnichannel marketing campaigns. Xerox entered the IT services market to expand its digital footprint, particularly targeting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). By offering a range of IT services, including managed security, cloud solutions, and technical support, Xerox aims to become a one-stop shop for SMBs' technology needs. 

Techaisle’s recent survey of over 2100 businesses shows that 53% of midmarket firms have shifted their focus to smaller AI wins as they result in reduced risk, faster ROI, enable flexibility, build trust and capability, and target specific immediate pain points. These early wins can serve as a springboard for more significant, more ambitious AI initiatives, ultimately driving long-term growth and success. This trend was first highlighted on July 31st during a podcast recording, where I was asked about the specific AI trends Techaisle and I were watching. My response was clear: small wins. This insight was grounded in our data-driven research, and the evidence presented in this article further supports this conclusion.

Pursuing smaller, more manageable AI projects is increasingly becoming the preferred strategy for midmarket firms. This shift is primarily driven by a series of significant roadblocks hindering the widespread adoption of AI.

A staggering 82% of midmarket companies cite cost and a lack of sufficient investment as primary obstacles. The substantial financial commitment often required for large-scale AI initiatives burdens these organizations considerably. Additionally, 63% of midmarket firms grapple with insufficient technology infrastructure, highlighting the need for robust IT systems to support AI applications.

Uncertainty also plays a significant role. 59% of midmarket companies express a lack of clarity on AI implementation, underscoring the complexity and challenges associated with integrating AI into existing business operations. Furthermore, trust and security concerns, cited by 51% of respondents, pose substantial barriers to AI adoption. The sensitive nature of data and the potential risks associated with AI systems have led to a cautious approach among many organizations. Finally, data quality and accessibility remain critical challenges. 38% of midmarket firms struggle with a lack of curated data and the inability to ingest quality data, hindering AI model development and performance. These collective challenges have compelled midmarket organizations to adopt a more pragmatic approach to AI. By focusing on smaller, more attainable projects, these firms can mitigate risks, accelerate time-to-value, and build momentum while addressing the limitations imposed by these roadblocks.

Techaisle data shows that while the preference for small wins is consistent, there are notable differences in the intensity of this preference across vertical industries.

Partner behavior is evolving rapidly in 2024 and 2025, with a heightened focus on growth, speed, and innovation. To achieve these goals, partners are aggressively pursuing new customers, automating processes, and integrating AI into both their product offerings and internal operations. This strategic shift is driven by the recognition that AI has the potential to reshape the partner ecosystem, demanding a pivot from vendor dependency to customer-centric value creation. As a result, partners are prioritizing specialization and agility while placing a premium on developing AI capabilities. Red Hat's timely updates to its partner program acknowledge these shifts and position the company to support partners in navigating this dynamic landscape.

In July 2024, Red Hat introduced an enhanced unified global partner program. I was fortunate to have had some involvement with the Red Hat partner team as it developed its strategy for partner business empowerment. Red Hat’s Partner Program is flexible and globally consistent, enabling partners to customize their participation while maintaining a unified approach across regions. It aims to build strong relationships and drive mutual growth globally.

Let us go deeper into each area, which I feel the partners and partners’ customers will appreciate.

Program Structure

Red Hat's Partner Program balances global consistency and local flexibility, empowering partners to tailor their participation to specific market needs while upholding a unified partnership approach. According to Techaisle's Partner Survey, 46% of global partners desire vendor partner programs that maintain a consistent framework while accommodating regional variations. This structure allows partners to customize their participation according to their unique business needs while ensuring a unified approach across various regions. The program is built to accommodate multiple types of partners, including resellers, system integrators, distribution, and independent software vendors, providing them with the necessary tools and resources to succeed. By maintaining a globally consistent framework, Red Hat ensures that all partners access the same high-quality support and opportunities regardless of location. This approach fosters a strong sense of community among partners and helps Red Hat maintain its standards and deliver exceptional value to its customers worldwide.