| Our clients, procurement
department staff members in
public and private enterprise, face a delicate balancing act every
business day. Certain projects may be put on the back-burner while other
higher-priority ones are handled. Becoming an expert and maintaining
that expertise on the dozens of line
items each buyer may be responsible for is a constant challenge.
The following factors tend to limit the ability
of the organization's procurement team to maximize its document-related investments:
--Gathering accurate volume and spend histories from multiple
internal departments and locations, some of which utilize various
equipment suppliers
--Applying a single network administration utility and a single print
driver across all brands of equipment
--Staying on top of key industry trends without relying on the
information supplied by seller's agents
--Finding enough time to meet with each vendor in order to provide a
fair and level playing field to all
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--Keeping control of print jobs going to outside vendors
--Dealing with problems posed by the age and
limitations of current equipment
--Gaining MIS/IT involvement in the effort to connect digital copiers
--The lack of unadulterated insider industry knowledge
--Reducing the confusion stemming from non-coterminous lease
expiration dates
--Reconciling monthly invoices on every unit in the fleet
--Perhaps fundamentally changing the acquisition strategy from the
traditional outright purchase or straight lease to a cost-per-impression
format
--Maintaining a channel of communication with a representative
sampling of users
--Getting accurate service reports from vendors
--Providing users with freedom of choice but balancing the overall
best interests of the organization
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