I just got back from Lexington Kentucky where I attended an analyst briefing at Lexmark’s newly remodeled HQ. The changes to the building since my last visit were immediately noticeable. Their new logo that was rolled out earlier this year and the eye-popping green color scheme was everywhere and the new layout is extremely impressive. At a cost of over $8 million, it better be.

Click here to view all my pictures from the event

The conference room received a face-lift with beautiful monitors, lots of barely noticeable microphones and video capability to aid in global collaboration. There is also a new presentation room with super comfy black leather chairs that had some of that bright green highlights on them, keeping with the theme. They really tied the room together. The presentation room was round and had several monitors side by side that looked like something out of Mission Impossible. Sean Endicot’s presentation on Lexmark’s AP capabilities was very cool as he slid images and text boxes around with the flick of a finger. It was very futuristic looking.

Outside that round room were more monitors where we were treated to other overviews on healthcare and retail solutions – two of Lexmark’s hallmark vertical strengths. Lexmark is able to physically show over 40 solutions at this facility. From there we walked through their hardware show room where we saw a variety of printers and copiers (MFPs).

The newly renamed Customer Engagement Center was just awesome and the 10,000+ square foot facility is probably as nice if not nicer than any I’ve seen. It’s definitely one of the most state of the art buildings in this industry.

So What’s Happenin’ with Lexmark? Well, they’ve been pretty busy that’s for sure. Mike Johnson gave us a rundown on the last year. Combined enterprise software and MPS grew 37% and comprised 40% of revenue. Mike talked about how they’re in the midst of a transformation from a hardware company to a solutions company. Lexmark has invested $2 billion in solutions since 2010 and I get the feeling they’re not done yet.

Lexmark’s three biggest verticals are healthcare, retail and finance and they continue to be a dominant player in these areas. They’re doing everything they can to help dealers find that “something else” beyond copying and printing, while still recognizing the importance of print to dealers as well as themselves. They know their roots and they’re not walking away from print anytime soon. While solutions are the future, Brock Saladin did explain, “imaging will always be a key piece of our business.” However, in continuing their solutions push, they’re now providing partners with software and solutions resources for the first time – another step forward.

We got a quick walk through of the continually developing Lexmark to Go app they rolled out a while back. This app helps the sales person by putting everything they need at their fingertips. Meeting with a new law firm? Here are the questions to ask, here’s what to look for. Here are some case studies and training and videos and brochures and product info and on and on. It really is one of the best sales tools printer manufacturers offer the feet on the street.

The Lexmark facility was really cool and they’ve already had over 50 customers visit in the few short months since they opened it. The way they do solutions demos was super slick. Check out the videos you’ll see what I mean. They’re hard-hitting and to the point. I have to imagine that customers are pretty impressed by this building once they’ve visited. A technology company using state of the art technology, what a great idea!

From there we headed over to Keene racetrack where we continued our conversations and I got a bit of an education at horse racing. Apparently I’m as good at that as I am at fantasy football (not good). The title for this article was the name of one of the horses I picked  that actually won a race.

In all, it was a really worthwhile trip. Numbers look good, there’s some really big stuff is coming that I can’t talk about yet and they continue to build on their sound solutions strategy – they squeezed quite a bit into a half-day.

Lexmark is on the right path and though acquisitions and their own product development, they have put together arguably one of the most cohesive solutions offerings under one roof.

~Andy