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In an effort to provide one-stop shopping for their customers, the nation's largest copier companies are enlarging

the scope of their businesses by purchasing systems integration and document services firms. By acquiring firms

that can integrate digital copiers into computer networks and service those networks, as well as provide printing

services on large projects, the firms are hoping to capture business that would typically be outsourced. "It

allows us to provide a lot more solutions for a wider range of client applications," says Bob Raymond, sales

manager for Ikon Office Solutions in San Antonio. "The goal is to be able to provide a one-stop shop," says

Michael Fitzgibbons, president and chief executive officer of Felco Office Systems Inc., a company owned by Tampa,

Fla.wow power leveling,-based Global Imaging Systems Co. "Instead of

being able to provide a portion of their needs, we're looking to provide a whole turn-key program." Several years

ago, national business machine firms such as Ikon, Global Imaging and Danka Business Systems plc began purchasing

independent copier sales and service companies in an effort to provide competitive prices and technologically

advanced products to their customers. But as more copiers have become digital - and more customers are aiming to

hook up their computer systems to their digital copiers - copier firms are stepping in to service that market.

What's more, since more firms are preparing their documents in-house, business machine firms are working to

provide just-in-time printing services - where they are able to print large quantities of documents for their

clients on a demand basis. The goal, industry officials say, is to have one sales representative selling all the

various office equipment services to the company's customers. To that end, Valley Forge, Penn.-based Ikon recently

renamed its document services unit to Ikon Office Solutions. Last December, Ikon-Night Rider, Ikon's document

services division, acquired Legal Copies International, which owned Alamo Legal Copies of San Antonio. "It's

important that we present our solutions to the market in a unified way so that customers can remember a single

name for all of their legal and business document needs," Lynn Graham, president of Ikon Document Services, said

in a prepared statement released last month. During the second quarter of Ikon's fiscal year 1997 alone, Ikon

purchased 24 companies nationwide - nine systems integration firms, six outsourcing and imaging companies, and

nine traditional office equipment firms. That brings the total number of companies Ikon has acquired in the first

six months of this fiscal year to 47 - 19 in systems integration, 13 in outsourcing, and 15 in traditional office

equipment. (Ikon, then known as Alco Standard Co., acquired Texas Copy in San Antonio in the early 1990s.) Bruce

Ganger, director of digital and color programs for Danka, says that his firm has grown its systems integration and

print-on-demand business internally for several years. However, last September the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based

company purchased the office imaging division of Eastman Kodak. That division was already a top player in the

print-on-demand business. Tom Johnson, CEO of Global Imaging, says the firm has 44 locations nationwide. In the

past eight months, it has acquired two systems integration firms, one of which is the 34th largest in the nation.

Fitzgibbons says his firm currently is holding talks regarding possible deals with some local firms. John Thomas,

president of the San Antonio systems integration firm The Publishing Group, says he has been contacted by some of

the major companies about providing services, but has yet to be approached regarding an acquisition. "They do use

my services," he says. However, Sam Lorimer, vice president of SabreData of Austin, another systems integrator,

says he has seen many of his peers nationwide get purchased or approached by some of the nation's major office

equipment service firms. Of those, he says, Ikon appears to be the most aggressive. "I've seen a lot of peers get

purchased by Ikon," he says. While digital copiers still make up only a small percentage of the market, industry

analysts say it is increasing. Analysts says digital copiers make up less than 10 percent of the installed market.

Digital equipment, which digitizes images electronically instead of using a light source, gears and drums, allows

the use of one machine for various functions, including faxing and laser printing. However, digital equipment is

becoming a larger source of revenues for the business-machine industry. For example, Xerox Corp., which has its

own systems integration division, recently reported that digital sales accounted for 34 percent of its revenues,

according to an industry analyst. "There's a sense that there's a lot of waste in a business environment by having

a printer, fax and a copier," says Kristy Thiese, an analyst with Raymond James & Associates in St. Petersburg,

Fla. world of warcraft power leveling,"The

(digital) products are here now and there'll be more coming in a year." But while the digital market is still

small, Thiese also notes that systems integration - because it involves servicing equipment - is similar to the

copier service business, making it a good business for the business-machine companies to enter. For example, they

are able to use the same dispatch system they are already using for their copier service people. "It's a similar

business to run to the business they're already in," she says. "It's a good growth business for them." However,

Thiese says that as digital copiers do take over the market, independent copier companies could feel financial

pressure to expend capital to provide systems integrations and other complementary services. Duane Meehan,

president of Office Communications Systems Inc. (OCS), the largest independent business machine firm in San

Antonio, says he saw several years ago that digital copiers would create the need for systems integration and

formed a division to address the need. He is expecting that division to grow. Indeed, Meehan says he was recently

told by a top official of a major copier manufacturer that by the year 2000, no more analog copiers would be

developed by the firm. "Everything they are doing is going to be connectable," Meehan says about copier

manufacturers. "As a dealer, we've had to be fully prepared to sell and service digital copiers." So far, Meehan

says that adding systems integration to his business has helped fuel the firm's growth. OCS has seen its revenues

grow by more than 60 percent over the last three years.
Digital propelling copier businesses to broaden scope

We stopped at one particularly imposing custom-home still under construction, wondering about the future occupants. Where did this wealth come from?

Although we love our home in a fairly nice neighborhood in San Diego, my wife and I sometimes like to "looky-loo" at new homes—it's a kind of weekend pastime and, who knows, we might find something really special which will tempt us into moving.

A couple of years ago, in one particularly expensive neighborhood, we saw homes that were bigger than we could believe: 15,000 square feet and more. This was right next to a golf club where memberships ran $75,000 a year. wow power leveling, We were informed that everyone joined, because everyone joined. What if you didn't play golf? Well, you joined anyway, to socialize with the neighbors. That was simply part of the lifestyle.

We stopped at one particularly imposing custom-home still under construction, wondering about the future occupants. Where did this wealth come from? How many children did these people have, 20? Or, perhaps their extended family—sisters and cousins and aunts—would be living there too? Our brief tour disclosed wings and lobbies and sitting rooms for the usual number of bedrooms (why do the children need lobbies?) plus game rooms and media centers and anterooms galore. The more sensible 3,000 square feet-sized house at the end of the garden turned out to be the "butler's quarters."

Then we bumped into the owners. Gosh, they looked about 25! I just had to ask; it turned out they were 30-ish. world of warcraft power leveling, They happily disclosed that their current home, not far away, was only 5,000 square feet. Too small, they insisted. How many kids did they have? Two. So, just what did they do for a living? One word explained it all: dot-com. We left, shaking our heads.

Some months later we thought we'd drive by to see whether that dot-com family had moved in yet. There was a big sign out-front. Construction had stopped mid-way and the big, unfinished house was for sale.

I was curious, so I dug deeper. It turns out that the dot-com IPO was valued at about $50 million, and this guy who was building the palace had sold about $3 million worth of stock during the offering, which valued his 20% stockholding at $10 million. age of conan power leveling, When the stock crashed (to a fraction of the IPO price) and the company folded, his debts and commitments already exceeded the amount he had cashed in plus his stock value, and he was broke. They had made a 10% down payment on the $10 million home, and the bank was now the owner of the unfinished monstrosity. The dot-com "millionaire" was now looking for funding on his next venture.

This type of escalation up the ladder of life is not limited just to the filthy-rich. I remember many years ago, a colleague at work with a salary comparable to mine had a home that seemed much larger. Perhaps he was independently wealthy. Then we both got a similar pay raise, and I heard to my amazement that he was moving to an even larger home. I asked him how he did it and he replied, "The magic of monthly payments!" A few years later, during the aerospace layoffs, I bumped into him again. He had lost his job, his wife had left him, they had sold the house during the divorce, and he was selling office supplies to make a living—a casualty of lifestyle syndrome.

Our society boosts people into thinking that wealth accumulates and extrapolates endlessly. And borrowing is based on that misconception. Don't pay cash, when you can borrow and the interest is tax-deductible. When buying a car, many consider only the lease payments, not the price. If you can make the monthly payments, why not buy a boat?

In reality, most assets depreciate, while expenses and liabilities (including interest) mount mercilessly. Many millionaires go bust quite quickly because they don't seem to understand these simple truths. They simply succumb to the lure of the lifestyle.

I know one guy who lives in a relatively humble, rented home but has a luxury car and spends $25,000 a year to play at a tennis club. When I suggested that he could play tennis inexpensively in any one of several local venues, he insisted, "You have to live the lifestyle to meet the right people. Besides, they all see my car, but no one knows where I live!"

I know another lifestyle junkie, a leading light at the ballet and the opera, with another expensive habit: valet parking. When the valet service is free, he still tips the valet five dollars. On one occasion when we met for lunch, the parking lot was largely empty, so I parked right next to the front door, while my friend drove up and grandly handed his keys to the valet. After lunch, we came out together and I drove off right away while my friend waited impatiently for the valet, who was nowhere to be seen.

Now, I don't feel particularly humble or miserly, but I really don't understand the rationale of the luxury lifestyle. In fact, I remember the remark of a guy who ignored the champagne at a fancy reception and asked for a beer. "Hey!" he said, "I'm rich enough to drink what I want, not what looks good."

These days, when I see somebody posturing beyond their means, I remember a Texas cattleman's wisecrack: "Big hat, no cattle!"
The golden pond The lure of the lifestyle