One publication that follows the managed print services business, The article on the two deals in MPSinsights suggested that more acquisitions may be in the offing, either by the two big companies, or others in the field "The question is," said the article, "who is next?"

Among the other questions MPSinsights posed: "How will Xerox's acquisition affect independent MPS consultants? Asset DB was almost becoming an industry standard tool for discovery -- will that continue under Xerox ownership?"

For its part, Xerox suggests yes. "NewField IT's Asset DB is a user-friendly software, which speeds up some MPS implementations by up to four times, Stephen Cronin said in the latest press release. "This will accelerate the return on the MPS investment for all our clients, helping boost business growth as they reinvest the costs savings into other areas of the business."

Besides Xerox and H-P, Ricoh and Cannon are major players in the MPS field, which Gartner, among others, has identified as a growth market -- one that is attracting a lot of competition. In fact, some see the battle for outsourced print services as essentially a four-way struggle, with each of the top companies looking for a new edge. The activity by Xerox and H-P highlights not only the stakes, but the directions that the leaders are taking to win their bets.