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Lexmark to acquire Kofax
Lexmark and Kofax have entered into a merger agreement whereby Lexmark will acquire
all of the outstanding shares of Kofax for $11.00 per share in cash, producing a total
enterprise value of approximately $1 billion net of cash acquired.
The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2015 and, on completion, will nearly
double the size of Lexmark’s enterprise software business to approximately $700 million.
In addition to a significant increase in scale, the merger with Kofax will help accelerate growth and
significantly increase the operating margins of Lexmark's software business, helping it compete in a
market that is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 10%.
Paul Rooke, Lexmark Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: “Kofax accelerates Lexmark’s
development of industry-specific solutions while also immediately expanding our reach into the mid-
market, where there is increasing demand for technology to better manage the growing amount of
unstructured information and improve customer engagement.”
Turn to page 29 to read our interview with Danny Molhoek, Lexmark Managing Director & Country
General Manager UK/Ireland.
Digital boarding passes
take off
The number of airline boarding passes
delivered by mobile phone is expected to
double over the next four years from 745
million this year to 1.5 billion – or one
in three of all boarding passes issued by
airlines – in 2019.
In its report
Mobile & Online Ticketing: Transport,
Events & NFC 2015-2019,
Juniper Research says
that take-up is being driven by frequent flyers rather
than leisure passengers, who are less likely to be
familiar with the technology, and by the greater
number of airlines offering this facility.
According to SITA, the airline IT specialist,
53% of airlines have already implemented mobile
boarding passes via apps and it expects this figure
to rise to 91% by 2017.
Juniper Research warns that greater adoption
of barcode-based mobile boarding passes is likely
to delay the transition to NFC.
Research author Nitin Bhas said: “The
ultimate position that NFC can reach in the airline
industry is ‘the extinction of the boarding pass’,
as boarding pass, baggage tickets and identity
information can be stored on the phone and
simply accessed using NFC readers. However, this
transition will not be delayed only by the success
of barcode; there is the need to gain agreement
and investment from airlines and airports around
the world.”
Paper reporting systems
not fit for purpose
Reliance on paper forms and filing means that
two thirds of days taken off due to sickness or
holiday entitlement go unregistered.
So claims online absence management
specialist aCloud TeamSeer, part of Access Group.
It surveyed 127 UK businesses and found that
81% still rely on paper-based reporting systems,
even though two thirds (66%) don't consider such
systems to be accurate.
Joshua Gilbertson, head of aCloud at Access,
said: “It is staggering to see that over four million
businesses are still using paper documents to
monitor sickness and holiday. We are calling for
UK businesses to abandon their paper systems in
favour of digital software.”
He added: “Digital HR systems become
invaluable when they allow organisations to make
smart decisions about resourcing and productivity.
It is these decisions that will improve the bottom
line and give businesses a competitive edge.”
Software 'robots' that utilise machine
learning and artificial intelligence are
expected to bring significant value to
business processes in the next three to five
years as they help automate middle-office
functions.
A poll of 537 senior decision-makers
conducted by Cognizant, a provider of information
technology, consulting, and business process
outsourcing services, highlights how intelligent
process automation (IPA) and more effective use
of big data can speed up processes, reduce errors,
cut costs and improve decision-making.
Respondents are currently automating 25-40%
of their workflows, typically those that follow rote
procedures and manual inputs. Next generation
IPA technologies are likely to extend automation
to more complex workflows.
Charles Sutherland, executive vice president of
research at HfS Research, said: “By implementing
software robots, service providers can ensure that
work is done around the clock, eliminate human
error and ensure scalability as they save costs and
drive revenue. Process automation also allows
clients and service providers to share benefits
including enhanced compliance, reduced risk and
improved job satisfaction of staff.”
Software robots to improve
business processes
Printing can be good
for you
Amid growing concern about office
workers' sedentary lifestyles, Guy Osmond,
a vendor of sit-stand desks and other
ergonomic products, is urging businesses
to place printers further away from users
to encourage employees to move around
more.
In his blog, the managing director of Osmond
Ergonomics writes: “More walking meetings,
taking and making telephone calls on the move,
locating printers and water coolers away from
desks, drinking lots of water (to create natural
breaks) and many other simple, effective (and
often free) techniques can be applied to the
workplace to increase movement and reduce
cardiovascular risks.”
Getting up to retrieve prints could have health
benefits (photo courtesy of Kyocera).
BA is one of a growing number of airlines to
issue mobile boarding passes
