Best Practices: Distributed Output Services

In most organizations, distributed output devices such as printers, fax machines, and scanners seem to magically multiply. Although enterprises often do not count the cost, the amount of money spent on distributed output is astounding, and it greatly taxes the environment. Through interviews with operations, facility, and IT professionals in enterprises, as well as vendors, our research uncovered best practices in distributed output services in four areas. Enterprises with central control of office assets, strong change management and governance plans, and a focus on linking office devices into mainstream business processes were the most successful at corralling distributed output costs. Application of these best practices, especially as we enter a period of economic uncertainty, can help information and knowledge managers, operations managers, and executive management cut costs, fill gaps in compliance and security, improve office workflow, and even help push green IT forward.