As Earth Day-Week came to a close, it made me realize how fortunate I am to be able to lead a Xerox business where we really have the potential to impact the environmental footprint. Obviously, I share a biased position, but from the results I have seen driven for our clients and the response we continue to receive from them, the Xerox Office Services team ranks as the world's experts at creating an optimal office. Inside the optimal office is a tremendous opportunity to impact our environment for generations to come.

Simply put, every large enterprise operates with thousands (often, tens of thousands) of output devices. In many cases, a large business enterprise will generate over one billion impressions annually. Those who have taken control and effectively manage output today have far fewer devices, consume far less power, have reduced their carbon footprint and have significantly reduced their green house gas emissions. Not to mention the fact that they have eliminated literally tons of landfill waste that comes from packaging, repair materials and paper on an annual basis. And, if they have effectively managed their entire supply chain for output, they have also reduced the amount of trees used to produce their paper, the amount of fresh water used in the production of the paper, and the amount of waste water that comes from that process. Surprisingly, they more than likely have saved millions of dollars at the same time, and they know where every impression is being made, who is making them and how they are being used. These are just some of the elements and benefits of today's optimal office. Many of our clients today also take advantage of technological advantages that have come from Xerox innovation, including ink products that are bio-degradable.

When our consultants have the opportunity to work with committed environmental organizations, we can drive a host of environmental benefits our clients can measure. And whether you think about establishing optimal offices on a small or enterprise-wide level---the positive impact to the environment is astounding. After Earth Day 2008, it certainly feels great to know that the work one does on a daily basis is making a difference.

Jim Joyce
Senior Vice President
Xerox Office Services

Posted by Big I, little t at 08:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There are profitable approaches that save money and reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, 60-70% of emissions are energy related i.e. fuel for transportation, heating and power generation.

Most companies are focused in several areas:
1) Improving their infrastructure (buildings, data centers, factories, plants, offices)
2) Improving their supply chains (raw materials, product design, suppliers, transportation)
3) Optimizing finished goods and appliances they use (machinery, auto's, TV's, PC's, Printers).

There is opportunity in the office. Many enterprises have work from home employee programs, carpool programs, and encourage fuel efficient vehicles. In some industries, 30-50% of their employees work from home which reduces office space, requiring less energy for heating, cooling, lighting.

IT continues to adopt green principals and look to technologies within the data center and across the enterprise to reduce cost, reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. Forrester states that the number of enterprises adopting green IT practiced jumped from 25% to 38% in 2007. Forrester's article, "Green IT Nudges Tech Adoption," March 10, 2008, provides some great examples and insight. Collaboration software & services, web conferencing, thin client technology, server virtualization, data center outsourcing, and document/print services outsourcing are the leading strategies that reduce carbon footprint. Outsourcing requires service providers to implement cost reduction as well as provide energy efficient solutions. For more details on Outsourcing and Services review the High tech and Communications blog.

Susy Mark
Industry Marketing Manager
High-Tech, Telecom and Media
Xerox Corporation

Posted by Big I, little t at 09:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Earth Day is a great time to re-evaluate our business behaviors and the impact they have on the environment. In the spirit of the day, I’ve compiled a list of reminders to help us all create a more sustainable office.

Focus on paper usage: "According to the U.S. EPA it takes 10 times more energy to produce a sheet of paper than to print on it; thus paper reduction becomes critical in the printing workflow not only for economic but also for environmental reasons."
• Think before you print.
• Print only what you need (classic example is a 10 page e-mail chain when you only need the first page.)
• Set your printer to duplex (double-sided printing)
• Print multiple pages per side (great for powerpoint presentations; print 2 to 4 slides-per-sheet & duplex. This can save up to 75% on paper usage.

Focus for IT managers - Save on Energy Usage:
• Think efficiency - how many users do you have connected to each device? Many printers/multi-functions are capable of 15+ pages-per-minute with very high reliability. Consolidate machines and instantly save energy!
• Think about supplies & waste - look for multi-function devices that offer all the performance you need in one machine (solid ink products, for example, also produce 90% less waste and the solid ink is cartridge free!

Being aware of behaviors is the 1st step in greening up the office.
• Assess your current environment and make choices to improve your footprint.
• Consolidate machines to save energy
• Print what you need - eliminate wasted pages
• Reduce the amount of waste each device creates
• Think about supplies when you purchase the device
• Understand the total impact of your choice

Most importantly remember the fundamentals of sustainability: 
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle -- focus on them in this order and do your part! 
At Xerox, we call it the "green gene" - click here to see more! 


Deb Koehler 

Solid Ink Sustainability Manager 

Xerox Office Group

Posted by Big I, little t at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Technology providers have a common problem when they attempt to design in ease-of-use. They end up "dumbing down" the device to the point that it is far less useful than anyone originally intended. But truly great products overcome this problem. Take for example your cell phone. When you make a call, you simply want to press that green button and have your call go through clearly and without being dropped. You don't want to know think about complex technology like GSM or voice packets. It's just not important to you.

Well it's the same with document scanning. In the scanning industry - the goal is to blur the lines between information on paper documents and that from "born digital" files. You shouldn't have to consider the medium of your information, just access it when you need it. But this is only possible through an easy-to-use scanning solution. In the end, all your information is available at your fingertips.

That's why it's critical for customers to look at how information is flowing through their operations. One of Visioneer's solutions to the problem is called OneTouch - providing complex and robust technology with just a touch of the button. High quality scanning occurs with Ph.D.-level image enhancement with Kofax VRS. It's then converted to a useful file format such as searchable PDF and finally delivered to nearly any destination application or folder, including Microsoft SharePoint which has emerged as a pervasive destination for document collaboration and workflow.

Whether using Visioneer or other industry solutions - turning a multi-part process of scanning documents and importing them to enterprise applications should be as simple as the touch of one button - something customers told us was important to them. By simplifying these processes, there is more productivity and efficiency in how documents are managed. And, that adds up to big savings in the 'return on investment' column.

Customers don't need a lot of money or IT power, it just takes some planning and commitment. If you can envision your world with a simpler, more streamlined approach to managing your information using the right scanning solutions - not only can you save costs - but you’re also well on the road to a more organized, efficient office.
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On another note: we're proud that Xerox was named the "Strategic Partner of the Year for 2007" at our annual PartnerVision Conference last month. In this industry, it's great to have key partnerships that help deliver continuing value to the customer. And, in the end - that's the ultimate goal and real test of business success - isn't it?

John Capurso
Vice President of Marketing
Visioneer, Inc.

Xerox Branded Scanners

Posted by Big I, little t at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)