Xerox makes a lot more than copiers nowadays. Image from Flickr.

In July of this year, Ursula Burns became the first black, female CEO of a Fortune 500 company when she took over Xerox. I was not the slightest bit surprised that a black woman could become the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, but I was surprised that Ursula Burns, in July of 2009, was the first one.

For those of us who haven’t seen the discrimination that existed 30 years ago, it’s easy to forget that women haven’t always been an everyday part of corporate life. I’ve grown up in a world where women can run large, successful businesses. Women are inventors, breadwinners, financial analysts and high-ranking politicians. As far as I know, they always have been, throughout all of my adult life. For as long as I’ve been old enough to take out payday loans online, women have been running things — big things.

We still have far to go

However, finding out that Ursula Burns is the first and only black woman to be CEO of a Fortune 500 company made me think of some of the other disparities that still exist in our country. I have always lived in areas that are predominantly white, so I haven’t observed much racism, at least not firsthand.

And just because I haven’t felt discriminated against because I am a woman doesn’t mean it still doesn’t happen. Nowadays, though, it doesn’t seem that discrimination is as much a problem as just the long, slow recovery from years of traditional thinking that said women belonged in the home. In many developing countries that attitude is still dominant, and often women aren’t even encouraged to go to school. It’s easy to forget that here in the U.S.

A few more firsts to come

Still, though we have surpassed a lot of countries when it comes to our attitudes toward women in the U.S., we still have some battles left. Last year we came closer than ever to having a female president, but that still hasn’t happened. Many countries outside the U.S. have had women presidents or the equivalent.

Also, if you check out the list of people with the most money in the world, it is overwhelmingly white men. The world’s richest man, Bill Gates, has $40 billion, while the world’s richest woman is worth $17.6 billion. The two richest women in the world inherited their fortunes from Wal-Mart. Ursula Burns, however, grew up in poverty and worked her way to the top.

Natural progression

It will still be a while before the thought processes that led to so many years of discrimination will be eradicated. I think most women in their 20s and 30s don’t feel they have to “fight” for rights anymore, and I think that’s a good thing. I do believe a time will come when we have a woman president and more women billionaires. Thanks to the loud, pushy feminists who came before us, we can simply sit back and enjoy living in a world where we have very few barriers preventing us from leading the lives we want.

Sure, there is more work to be done, but Ursula Burns shows that we have made a lot of progress and we will slowly but surely continue to do so.

Xerox products have gotten smaller, but its business is getting bigger. Image from Flikr.

Xerox has seen a decline in demand for its services, and now it has decided to buy Affiliated Computer Services Inc. for $6.4 billion and shift the focus of its business.

Xerox will pay $18.60 a share in cash and 4.935 Xerox shares for each Affiliated Computer Services share. Bloomberg.com reports this is about 34 more than the  closing price Sept. 25.

Affiliated Computer Services

Affiliated Computer Services is based in Dallas, Texas. The company provides information technology and business process outsourcing services to businesses, government agencies and non-profit organizations. Right now it operates in more than 100 countries and makes about $6 billion per year.

Its profits haven’t kept Affiliated Computer Services from borrowing money, and Xerox will also now be responsible for Affiliated Computer Services’ debt of about $2 million. One of Affiliated Computer Services’  main clients is Medicaid.

More about acquisition deal

The deal between Xerox and Affiliated Computer Services is expected to close in early 2010, according to Wikipedia. Xerox expects its acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services will triple its sales in the services sector. The company expects to pull in about $10 billion in sales from services yearly after the purchase.

Affiliated Computer Services CEO Lynn Blodgett will continue to run the company as a unit of Xerox. She will report to Xerox CEO Ursula Burns.

Not going paperless yet

Much of Xerox’s business in the past was dependent on people’s dependence on paper. Xerox is the United States’ largest supplier of color printers. As the world continues to do more digitally, people are using printers less and less, preferring to exchange documents between computers.

Xerox is still investing in paper and hard copies, as it has started developing and selling digital printers for packaging and labels.

Naysayers

Of course, the CEOs of both Xerox and Affiliated Computer Services are optimistic that the deal will benefit both companies. However, not everyone is so sure it will work out.

“It’s going to take a Herculean effort to integrate these two companies,” said Peter Falvey, a managing director at Revolution Partners LLC in Boston. “There is significant execution and integration risk. It’s a very bold bet.”

Xerox has struggled to stay afloat in the past decade. Ursula Burns’ predecessor, Anne Mulcahy managed to keep the company out of bankruptcy through trimming debt, shedding jobs and exiting unprofitable businesses.

Contracts and expansion

Mulcahy was the one who switched Xerox’s business focus to laser printers rather than personal copiers. Xerox’s purchase of Affiliated Computer Systems under Burns’ direction marks yet another big shift in business focus.

Affiliated Computer Systems is one of the largest outsourcing companies in the U.S. About 90 percent of Affiliated Computer Systems’ business contracts are for outsourcing.

A big purchase

Affiliated Computer Systems is actually larger than Xerox, as Affiliated Computer Systems has about 20,000 more employees than Xerox. Xerox estimates its purchase of Affiliated Computer Systems will help it expand into a market worth $150 billion.

“There’s just no question that some of these big guys are looking to become more horizontal,” said Falvey. Computer Sciences Corp. and some Indian outsourcing companies may become targets, he said.