Ohio State Agency Crafts New Way To Deliver Document Technologies

Just as there may be many roads to a single destination, there are many ways to deliver document technology.

Common methods for distributing solutions run from direct vendor sales to the reseller channel. Nonetheless, there is always room for creativity to spawn a new breed. Hybrids can carry elements of direct sales, value-added reselling, systems integration, and Application Service Provider (ASP) models.

Such a unique endeavor developed at The Ohio State University, Columbus, where the institution's organization and style differ markedly from many other centers for higher education. At Ohio State, the colleges, departments, and administrative offices often choose, install, and run their own technology systems. That contrasts starkly with other schools such as Big Ten-competitor Pennsylvania State University, which purchased a site license for a single solution and deployed it at myriad departments over 27 campuses statewide.

At Ohio State — where enrollment runs over 54,000 students — administrative units enjoy considerable autonomy and purchasing discretion, so efforts to promote integrated solutions have often been met with a reluctant skepticism. As document imaging, workflow, report management, and related technologies developed through the 1990s, various units at Ohio State looked at an array of solutions, but there was no consensus.