Seldom the cheapest, but always the best…

When I got back into the business-to-business technology sales game about 9 months ago I wasn’t overly surprised to find that the Xerox product line that I am representing is seldom the low-price bidder for business. Xerox is the last American manufacturer left in this segment (Xerox still manufactures more than 50% of its product line in the U.S.) and at the low-end of the market products manufactured in Asia by Asian companies are the price leaders. The same thing happened with computers and most consumer electronics years ago. Once a product set becomes viewed by the buying public as a commodity it immediately becomes a lowest price wins game.

One thing that I now have to spend quite a bit of time on with potential customers is educating them about why these essential office machines are not a commodity and what to look for to differentiate between similar looking devices, especially as it relates to real value. There has to be a defensible reason for someone to pay more to buy my product, even though “Buy American” is at least a good reason to pause and look at the products in some detail.

I generally explain the Xerox differences by focusing upon two main categories of real value to the buyer – product features/functions (how they impact the buyer’s work environment) and business practices (how dealing with Xerox gives buyers some very real and tangible benefits). If the potential customer can’t see the Xerox differences and value in those two broad categories, then they are really not a prospect, just a shopper and I don’t do well with shoppers.

Xerox spends a lot of design effort and money on making sure that our machines are the most effective machines that you can buy. A major part of that is the designed in capability for multitasking. All modern machines, from all the vendors can make a valid claim to be multifunctional; that is, they all have the ability to do copying, printing, scanning and faxing. The palce where most, if not all of the Xerox competitors fall down is being able to do more than one of those things at a time or being able to multitask. In order to be able to multitask the machine has to be designed with separate resources for the separate functions. Xerox machines are designed that way. Others are not.

In most Xerox machines thee are separate, dedicated resources (processor, memory and other resources) for the print engine, the san engine and the fax engine. That means that you can start a large print job (either sent as a print job from a PC or a large copy job) and still make use of the scanning capabilities of the machine or send a Fax. Those resources aren’t tied up by the big print job. On toerh machines, once that print job starts, everyone with any other job will just stand around and wait – the whole machine is consumed by that one job. It is this designed-in ability to do multiple jobs at once that gives Xerox machines such a big edge when they are tested for effectiveness using typical work scenarios. That is why year after year Xerox models show up as the most effective machines in the tests run my independent tester Buyers Labs Inc. There are other designed in factors that I can discuss with you at length.

The second big category of difference is in the Xerox practices, especially as they relate to leases, which is the most commonly used way customers get a multifunction machine. Xerox leases come without the many hidden charges that other vendors don’t tell their clients about until the bill arrives. It’s “Oh, did we forget to mention the delivery and set-u charges?” Or, maybe, “Well, of course, you have to pay for insurance while you have t machine and for property taxes, too; didn’t we mention that up front?” Or maybe, “Certainly, you have to pay for shipping of your supplies. You didn’t expect not to, did you?” Those are a few areas that other vendors use to recoup some of the money they may have lost by appearing to be the low-cost vendor.

So, the bottom line here is that these devices are not commodities. They are not all alike. And, other company’s business practices may add significantly to what you thought was going to be the lowest cost. Call me and let’s explore this further.

Are you ready for the Blue Button?

Background -

On August 3rd President Obama announced the advent of a new button: The Blue Button. The Blue Button is a health data download button. Consumers can presumably click on the Blue Button and their medical records will then commence downloading to their computer (securely, of course). Anybody can get a complete medical record on demand; with no delays from the busy medical records department and no special fees and no rims and rims of paper records to carry around. Sounds like an awesome step forward for medical records portability.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will make Blue Buttons available for Medicare beneficiaries and so is the Veterans Administration (VA). The Markle Foundation issued a policy paper and a challenge to developers to do something meaningful with the Blue Button data (in partnership with Health 2.0). Statistically about about 30% of the U.S. population will have full electronic access to their medical records by virtue of a Blue Button.

Some Early Blue Button Implementations –

The VA delivers health care and it has an EHR (VistA) and gigantic amounts of electronic medical records to share. The VA also has a website, My HealtheVet, where members can access their latest medical records, view benefits and perform simple transactions, such as requesting meds refills and updating information. My HealtheVet, which is truly a PHR, will now be sporting a Blue Button, so members can download their electronic medical records in ASCII text format. The VA has a sample download file and it looks very useful.

CMS, on the other hand, is basically a payer. CMS will be adding the Blue Button to their member portal, MyMedicare, where claim data will be available for download and also, what seems to be, Self Entered clinical data. Presumably Medicare beneficiaries will update their clinical histories and then push the button to download the file, also in ASCII text format. Unlike the VA, CMS is not quite ready to allow beneficiaries to download this data to their own computers, but prefers that the data is transferred to a commercial PHR instead (e.g. Google Health, Microsoft Health Vault).

Getting Ready for the Blue Button –

Before your can offer blue button Electronic Medical Records (EMR) access to your  patients, you need to get one of our “green button” scanning solutions in place in your office. Why? Because most practices still have tons of paper-based records and a Xerox document scanning solution, based upon one of our modern multifunction devices is the fastest and most reliable way to turn those documents into electronic images that can be stored and retrieved by blue button applications. Xerox, along with numerous solutions partners offers everything from simple scanning and forwarding software all the way to sophisticated, fully features EMR applications. And they all start with the Xerox Green Button. Call me and let's discuss how you can get ready for the demands o fthe Blue Button.

Things that don’t show up on bid response spreadsheets –

I get involved in a fair number of bid situations - bids that are let by local governmental bodies, such as Counties, Townships, Villages and Cities or libraries and senior centers. I always know that wining in those situations will be tough, because so many of the decisions are made off of some spreadsheet that somebody creates from the bid responses. Spreadsheets have their place in the decision making process, I suppose: however, they also lead to oversimplification of the analysis that should be taking place. The issue really is that spreadsheets have no way of accounting for some of the very real differences that add or subtract value from the solutions that were bid.

Most bids have a few criteria defined, such as copy/print speed, features like two-sided copy/print and scanning, perhaps faxing and maybe will ask for variations on pricing for different lease lengths. Few if any of the bids that I've seen have any real provision for differentiating between vendor offerings in several key categories. Those differences can be costly, but those cost are often hidden in the vendor responses, if they are mentioned at all. Most vendors follow a "don't ask - don't tell" policy. If the bid documents don't ask the question about something like the charges to take out the machine at the end of the lease, then don't tell. Not all things that can't be easily shown on a spreadsheet are cost items. Some are performance items caused by real differences in the design and engineering of the machines.

All modern multifunction machines tend to look pretty much alike and most vendors make many of the same claims about capabilities. Below are some areas that you might want to look further int, since they just don't show up on the normal evaluation spreadsheets.

Customer Benefits that come from Xerox hardware design –

Efficiency - Xerox multifunction devices are designed to be more efficient than our competitors, often as much as 30% more efficient in tests by Buyer’s Lab International.

Effectiveness - Xerox Smart Controllers support true multitasking operations which allow the devices to do more than one task at a time. Smart Controllers also support features such as smart paper trays, which identify the paper size in each tray and  print around which allows jobs may have stalled because of a lack of resources to be skipped.

Increased uptime – Xerox Smart Kits are user replaceable components that make it easy to replace the components that most often wear out in the devices. Xerox users can keep their devices up an running, rather than placing service calls.

Security - Xerox is the only manufacturer to certify their complete devices, to earn Common Criteria Recognition Agreement certification. Xerox devices support disk overwrite as well to insure that critical sensitive data is not left on the disk drive.

Earth Friendly - Xerox devices are EnergyStar™ rated, use earth friendly toner and produce less waste.

Customer benefits that come from how Xerox does business -

No Hidden Costs - Xerox does not charge extra for delivery and set-up of the device or for delivery of supplies. At lease end Xerox does not charge extra for removal of the device.

Xerox does not charge for insurance on leased devices.

Fixed operational cost - The Cost-per-Copy rate for Xerox maintenance can be fixed for the life of the lease.

No charge for scans - Scans on Xerox multifunction devices are free. Other vendors may charge for scans.

No double charges - Xerox charges only a single-page rate for copies/prints based upon 11 X 17 in paper. Other vendors may charge double for those pages.

Award Winning Service - The Xerox service organization has won the coveted J D Power Service Excellence Award four years in a row

The Xerox Total Satisfaction Guarantee - Xerox offers the only guarantee offered by any vendor that allows the customer, not the vendor, to make the decision on when the device needs to be replaced because it just isn’t performing to the customer’s satisfaction.

Buy Local/Buy American - The Digital Document Store is a local business, based in Milford and Xerox is the only American manufacturer of office equipment.

10 Questions To Ask Before You Lease A Copier/Printer

Are you getting ready to lease a multifunction copier for your office?  Beyond the proposal from your vendor there are several items that need to be considered.  Most local vendors operate as resellers for major manufacturers in the imaging industry.  These independent agents may have their own set of rules on how leases and other services are structured.  This is typical because vendors support their clients locally and work with leasing companies that are not tied directly with the manufacturer of the office equipment they sell – otherwise known as 3rd party leasing companies.  Understand your local vendor’s rules (and costs) associated with a lease before you enter into any long term contract to protect your organization from hidden expenses.

1.  How are 11 x 17 prints calculated if I have a Cost per Copy (CPC) plan?

Many vendors charge differently for prints or copies made on tabloid or larger sized paper.  In the imaging industry, most vendors use some sort of cost per copy calculation.  For larger print output most charge 2 “clicks”, but some vendors only charge 1 “click.”

2.  Who pays for service copies or prints ran during service calls?

Will you have to pay for impressions being made when a service person is working on the equipment?  During service visits it is normal for a technician to run several hundred impressions.

3.  Do you charge for delivery on supplies that are part of your CPC contract?

Are you the customer paying for the supplies going into your machine?  Most leases are between 3-5 years and if you have to pay for shipping for routine supply items such as toner, drums or imaging units costs can add up quickly.

4.  Is there any charge for making scans on the equipment?

More and more multifunction devices are being used for document archiving and email transmission.  Having to pay for scans made is not a common practice, but nonetheless a good thing to check.

5.  What happens at the end of the lease?

How does your vendor address lease expiration and removals?  Normal shipping costs back to a leasing company can cost anywhere from $500 – $2,000 per machine.  It’s standard procedure for the customer to be responsible for the return fee, crating, and packaging prior to the return.  In addition, understand what happens if you don’t declare your intentions before the lease ends with your equipment.  In other words, does your lease automatically renew for a year, or does it go month to month?

6.  How does insurance work on the equipment you lease?

1/4% of the asset value is the industry average per month.  Ask if you have to take the 3rd party leasing company’s insurance or if you can use your own.

7.  Is property tax extra on a lease?

This varies from state to state, but ask your vendor about the local rates.  This can inflate your base monthly lease price if it is not already included.

8.  What is your guarantee if you are not satisfied after the sale?

What happens if you get a “lemon” after the lease is executed?  Does your vendor honor giving you a totally different machine if something goes really wrong?

9.  Are there anymore fees I should be aware of?

Other items to address up front are lease administration fees, UCC filing fees, delivery and setup, network connectivity, fuel surcharges, color calibration and system overhauls.  Every vendor operates differently, so try to outline what is or isn’t covered.

10.  What happens to my hard drive after lease termination?

With the recent reports of security breaches in the imaging industry, it is important to understand exactly what happens to your machine’s hard drive if you return your equipment at the end of a lease.  There may be additional costs associated with removal or destruction of this accessory before it is sent back to the leasing company.

Call me and let's discuss how I answer these questions - 248-763-2497. I can also provide you with a nice little comparison chart that yiou can use to compare vendor responses to these questions and bring any "hidden costs" out in the light.

Why multitasking is so important

Most vendors now offer what are called multifunction office machines – devices that have the capability to perform the functions of copying, network printing, scanning and faxing. That’s a good thing. It allows for consolidation of those functions into one device and the possible elimination of many of the old, single-function machines that were in the work environment.
What many of those machines don’t have is the ability to multitask – the ability to do more than one thing at a time. All Xerox floor model machines and some desktop devices have that ability. Why is that important? If you have a device that can send a fax and can print (or print copies) wouldn’t it make sense to be able to send that fax while the device is printing? After all, the fax only requires the scanner portion of the machine and the ability to use the phone line and process the fax. Xerox multifunction devices can do that. Most other machines can’t. See the graphic below to “see” the difference that this makes in your day-to-day work flow.

What this all means to you is that your people can get more things done quicker when they don’t have to stand around waiting for the multifunction machine to finish whatever function it happens to be processing at the time. There is only one print engine and only one scan engine, but the ability of them to work independently of each other can make a big difference.

A real life example might be that you or someone else has just started a big copy or print job, say 50 copies of a 20 page document; and now you want to scan in something else to email or maybe use the fax function to send a fax. On most competitive machines you just stuck waiting for that big copy/print job to finish. On a Xerox multifunction machine, because it is also a multitasking machine, yo can go ahead with that second job. The scanner and the fax functions have their own processors and can operate independent of the print engine.

Getting ready for the “Blue Button"

Background -

On August 3rd President Obama announced the advent of a new button: The Blue Button. The Blue Button is a health data download button. Consumers can presumably click on the Blue Button and their medical records will then commence downloading to their computer (securely, of course). Anybody can get a complete m

edical record on demand; with no delays from the busy medical records department and no special fees and no rims and rims of paper records to carry around. Sounds like an awesome step forward for medical records portability.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will make Blue Buttons available for Medicare beneficiaries and so is the Veterans Administration (VA). The Markle Foundation issued a policy paper and a challenge to developers to do something meaningful with the Blue Button data (in partnership with Health 2.0). Statistically about about 30% of the U.S. population will have full electronic access to their medical records by virtue of a Blue Button.

Some Early Blue Button Implementations –

The VA delivers health care and it has an EHR (VistA) and gigantic amounts of electronic medical records to share. The VA also has a website, My HealtheVet, where members can access their latest medical records, view benefits and perform simple transactions, such as requesting meds refills and updating information. My HealtheVet, which is truly a PHR, will now be sporting a Blue Button, so members can download their electronic medical records in ASCII text format. The VA has a sample download file and it looks very useful.

CMS, on the other hand, is basically a payer. CMS will be adding the Blue Button to their member portal, MyMedicare, where claim data will be available for download and also, what seems to be, Self Entered clinical data. Presumably Medicare beneficiaries will update their clinical histories and then push the button to download the file, also in ASCII text format. Unlike the VA, CMS is not quite ready to allow beneficiaries to download this data to their own computers, but prefers that the data is transferred to a commercial PHR instead (e.g. Google Health, Microsoft Health Vault).

Getting Ready for the Blue Button –

Before your can offer blue button Electronic Medical Records (EMR) access to your  patients, you need to get one of our “green button” scanning solutions in place in your office. Why? Because most practices still have tons of paper-based records and a Xerox document scanning solution, based upon one of our modern multifunction devices is the fastest and most reliable way to turn those documents into electronic images that can be stored and retrieved by blue button applications. Xerox, along with numerous solutions partners offers everything from simple scanning and forwarding software all the way to sophisticated, fully features EMR applications. And they all start with the Xerox Green Button.

Consolidate to save...

Big companies often have people working on a lot of big things, many of them aimed at improving productivity and reducing costs. One of those big ideas that translates well to companies of all sizes is the consolidation of document-centric functions onto a smaller number of office devices. Over time almost every business has accumulated a variety of single-purpose document handling machines – printers, copiers, scanners and fax machines. In most cases this ad hoc growth of office equipment has resulted in a hodge-podge of different brands and models of equipment, each with its own supplies – toner or ink or whatever. Most are underutilized or not capable of being shared.

The solution that many larger companies have been pursuing is consolidation of these functions onto newer multi-function networked devices from Xerox that can print, copy, scan and fax. Instead of printer populations that approached 1 printer to every 3-4 workers in some companies, employees now share a single faster, more capable printer at ratios of 15 or 20-to-1, sometimes higher. This approach works well in work-group settings, in departments or smaller offices or companies where everyone is fairly close to some central point where the device may be located.

The benefit that the employees get is better print quality and faster printing. They may also be given access to color printing (if the device is color capable), which most may not have had before. Depending upon the device features employees may also take advantage of faxing and scanning, as well as using the copying functions that are standard with the devices. From the company’s viewpoint there is a tremendous potential for savings to be realized by getting rid of all of the different toner and ink supplies and from having everyone print and copy at a much lower per page rate that the bigger devices support. Many companies are discovering that they can recoup their upgrade costs in the first year or two just due to reduced supplies costs. Technical Support issues and costs are also dramatically lowered in consolidated environments.

If you really think about it, this is actually the lowest hanging fruit that can be harvested to immediately save money for your company. This does not involve changes to your existing application software and it is not some big new system that needs to be implemented. It provides better print and copy quality and speed to your employees, while optionally offering faxing and scanning capabilities to everyone. If you think this might be right for your company, give me a call. Xerox has several tools available for me to use to analyze your environment so that I can report back to you what’s in your current environment and make recommendations on how to consolidate most or all of those machines onto a smaller number of multifunction devices. Think big and let me help you work smaller (or at least for less cost).