Report on Survey of K-12 School
Districts' Current Practices and Challenges Delivering Document
Production Services
Managing costs and improving performance through active vendor
selection, performance benchmarks, and executive leadership.
In the summer of 2007, Optimizon sponsored a telephone survey of
business managers, administrators, and senior executives from 107
K-12 school districts, the majority ranging in size from 10,000
to 35,000 students. The districts surveyed each spend approximately
$500K to $2M annually on internal document production.
The 20 question survey on document production services was designed
to gather information on the manner in which such services are procured
and managed. Questions ranged from the type of procurement, to the
organizational structure in which they are procured and maintained,
to the challenges associated with sourcing and managing document
production.
All surveyed school district personnel identified themselves as
having responsibility over the business relationship with document
production and/or the finances used to procure and maintain copiers
and associated supplies provided under document production contracts
for service.
As a survey to better understand current practices, the survey
was conducted without bias. The survey did not contain any preconceived
conclusions or leading questions.
For the purpose of the survey, document production services were
broadly defined as machines and services used to produce copies
of documents and associated vendor relationships and support agreements.
These machines may be used for document production of all type,
including classroom materials, parental notification, homework assignments,
and administrative support.
This report highlights three areas of the survey where clear conclusions
can be drawn: cost management is the greatest challenge to managing
document production; passive vendor and point-in-time service selection
contribute to cost overruns and underperforming vendor relationships;
and lack of performance benchmarks and metrics hinder expense management
and vendor and machine performance.
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