Clayton County Public Schools

Challenge

Like many growing school districts with multiple school and administrative locations, Clayton County Public Schools (CCPS) managed over 3,500 output devices representing 30 different manufacturers. Managing this many devices across the district caused ongoing service challenges for IT staff.

According to Rod Smith, Chief Technology Officer for CCPS, it became increasingly difficult to support the number of devices with the district’s limited IT resources. He knew the time was right to reduce the number of devices in the network and find new ways to support these devices without adding additional staff.

“Cost reduction is always a consideration. We needed a partner who could provide the features and solutions we needed, while helping us control expenses,” says Smith.

Solution

CCPC partnered with Lexmark to help optimize its infrastructure. The district reduced its device count from 3,500 direct-connected printers to 891 fully networked multifunction printers (MFPs). This reduction has made a significant impact from a resource standpoint, as half of the service tickets generated by CCPS teachers and staff were printer related.

“The problem we are solving is this: How can we do a better job at managing fleet of devices with a limited staff? Since the footprint of our fleet has gone down, it means time end user support time and frustration have also gone down,” says Smith.

In addition to right-sizing devices, CCPS has gained new insight into its printer fleet. In large enterprises networks, it’s not unusual for administrators to have limited visibility into fleet performance. Printer activity becomes a guessing game with little accountability and even fewer solid metrics. With Lexmark MFPs across the district, this has changed for the better.

“We have complete visibility into our devices and the utilization of those devices, including toner level and page count. Before, the direct-connected devices were invisible to us.” explains Smith. “Now we can analyze how much money we are spending and what we are saving.

Results

Finding the right technology for an enterprise is only part of the picture. The choice of a partner can mean the difference between a successful integration and frustration for users. For CCPS, Lexmark not only installed high-performance devices to meet the needs of its staff and educators, but also delivers outstanding service that helps everyone across the district work more effectively.

“We’re in the business of educating students. Every time I take 10 minutes or even one minute away from a teacher, that’s taking time away from instruction,” says Smith.

“We’re also in the business of doing things more efficiently and effectively. That’s why I would definitely recommend Lexmark to my peers in other school districts,” adds Smith. “The service we have received is outstanding, and from a product and solution standpoint, Lexmark is rock solid.”