How many companies compete with their own customers? I suppose there's a few that do, otherwise we wouldn't need new words like co-opetition to signify people who compete with each other also cooperating.

This news from Xerox's Global Document Outsourcing wing gave me pause for thought, though, because Xerox very definitely does compete with its customers in the printing industry, and it seems to be getting busier in the space occupied by a number of said customers. Also the Morrisons deal appears to be taking XGDO into an area beyond the sort of document management for large hotel chain type of deal we might automatically think is Xerox's forte. And I know of no one in the business of putting ink on paper who welcomes the dread words 'reverse auction'.

How do they square this circle, I wonder? Would love to be a fly on the wall at conversations betwix Xerox's print equipment team and some of its bigger customers - Williams Lea, for example. I'm also keen to learn a bit more about the numbers behind the XGDO business, but as a limited company entity of that name doesn't exist at Companies House more digging will be required there.

Chatting to one print boss about this topic he described it as a "complex" issue ("on the one hand they're trying to sell us machines, on the other they're competing with us very aggressively") but not necessarily a hugely problematical one as long as a suitable amount of reciprocity could be gained. In fact, he said he was more concerned about what he perceived to be "HP setting up its own print factories". Which is a topic for another day.

*It's hasta luego from me as I'm now off on hols for a fortnight. Please try not to do anything too interesting while I'm away.