Case Study | Toshiba Makes the Grade at New York School District

Toshiba Case Study

Customer: Pittsford Central School District Country: USA Industry: Education

 

When Pittsford Central School District (PCSD) in Western New York was seeking to replace its multifunction printer (MFP) fleet, the project was led by the district’s chief information officer Jeff Cimmerer, Ed.D. His goal was to find a vendor capable of providing best-in-class solutions worthy of this high-performing district (both of its high schools consistently rank in the top 100 schools in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report). Satisfying content management needs of the more than 7,000 students, teachers, and administrative staff also required quality equipment.

 

BEST-IN-CLASS SOLUTIONS PCSD’s CIO
was seeking more than just great products. His goal was to promote competition using comparable or enhanced equipment while meeting his budgetary requirements as past providers weren’t addressing the school district’s finance, productivity, or data security needs. With such vital documents as report cards, transcripts, and final exams being distributed in both hard copy and electronic forms, document security was paramount and would play an important role in Dr. Cimmerer’s requirements. The CIO’s request for proposal (RFP) process was conducted through multiple face-to-face meetings expecting vendors to address his established criteria. He and his leadership team were growing tired of high-pressure sales tactics or non-responsive representatives from other MFP manufacturers participating in the RFP process. After meeting with Toshiba Business Solutions director of sales John McBride, the CIO was immediately impressed. “As a result of their knowledgeable, patient and friendly approach, John and his team added a human touch to the process,” Dr. Cimmerer explained.

“By integrating Toshiba’s print fleet, our business office is calculating an overall savings of 30 percent on all copying and printing expenditures.”

– Chief Information Officer, Jeff Cimmerer, Ed.D.

While Dr. Cimmerer valued the interaction with McBride and his team, the CIO executive abided by the transparent sales process he created to ensure all vendors involved in the RFP process had an equal chance to address the district’s needs. As an important element in this cycle, vendors were allowed to ask clarifying questions about the district’s needs within a group forum at PCSD district office. Participating vendors were also allowed to respond with recommendations for equipment, services, and costs that met the district’s expectations. “Upon receiving clarification about our needs, Toshiba Business Solutions developed the most comprehensive and compelling product portfolio to better address our content management needs at a price-point that made sense,” Dr. Cimmerer said. “Toshiba’s product, sales and technical teams were all given exceptional references by other organizations. But even more importantly, Toshiba’s output management products and services clearly meet and in many cases exceed the lofty benchmark expectations we put into place during the RFP process.” To gain a clear understanding of how well the district was meeting its stringently-mandated data security policy from a network perspective, Dr. Cimmerer hired outside consultants to present him with an unbiased audit on how PCSD was faring on this front. Upon conclusion of the audits, he learned there were areas in which the district needed to improve prior to implementing Toshiba’s fleet. Specifically, auditors noticed confidential documents were occasionally left behind upon printing and copying. To resolve the potential problem of having sensitive information leave the district, Toshiba’s team of sales and solutions professionals recommended allowing the ID badges worn by PCSD’s staff to integrate with the Toshiba award winning MFP product line. “As a result of working with John and his staff, we have vastly improved securing all print and copy jobs, and now comply fully with our security policy,” Dr. Cimmerer noted. The independent audits further uncovered the need to cleanse PCSD’s current fleet’s hard drives of potential HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and Family Educational Rights and Protection Act (FERPA) protected information residing on their current copiers. To mitigate this concern moving forward, the entire new Toshiba output fleet was shipped with the company’s unique Self-Encrypting Drive with Automatic Data Invalidation to virtually eliminate the possibility of anyone accessing data on the drive should they attempt to remove and install it into another device. Toshiba’s industry-recognized e-STUDIO products are currently in use by all PCSD schools and throughout its central office, curriculum, athletic, transportation, food services, and maintenance departments fulfilling all content management needs while also reducing costs for the school district. “By integrating Toshiba’s print fleet, our business office is calculating an overall savings of 30 percent on all copying and printing expenditures,” Dr. Cimmerer said.

Because of the durability and reliability of e-STUDIO products, coupled with the products’ high-performing copying, scanning, and printing capabilities, Dr. Cimmerer forecasts longer-term savings as a result of selecting Toshiba as the district’s multifunction product provider. He also projects Toshiba will save his district further money as the need for internal district customer support has diminished. Dr. Cimmerer is forward thinking on what should be implemented to keep the Pittsford Central School District among the leaders in K-12 education. With this first phase working smoothly within the district, he is already formulating plans for future Toshiba partnerships. One consideration will likely center on transitioning paper files into an electronic format for more secure storage and easier retrieval for the vast amounts of data the district already has and will continue to accumulate. “It makes sense to keep doing business with a company that follows through on its commitments, and continues to demonstrate its local excellence,” explained Dr. Cimmerer. Perhaps the strongest endorsement from the district has not yet been stated. It’s not necessarily the increased ability to manage documents for more than 7,000 people, securely distributing that content, or even working within financial constraints. The Toshiba team believes the most telling indication of success is that the district sees itself as a partner rather than simply a client. To underscore the company’s success in this area, Dr. Cimmerer noted, “As a result of our relationship with Toshiba, my IT staff and I view John and his team as associates rather than outside vendors.”

“It makes sense to keep doing business with a company that follows through on its commitments, and continues to demonstrate its local excellence.”

– Chief Information Officer, Jeff Cimmerer, Ed.D.