The day after -- a company that offers infrastructure, software and workers to be coordinated with H-P's existing sales channels and broader services for small and medium-sized business clients -- Xerox made an announcement of its own.

Xerox, identifying itself the market leader in managed print services, said it would expand the business by as a wholly owned subsidiary.

Neither H-P nor Xerox talked about the value of the acquisitions of their privately held targets -- as is often the case when the target isn't publicly traded, and the purchaser's strategic plan is still being formulated.

But despite their reluctance to quantify the latest deals, both acquirers were clear that their acquisitions fenced out the managed print territory for expansion.