Patent ID: 8676633

Claim:
An assessment method, comprising: capturing, using a computer, a current state of a customer's office document equipment environment and storing the current state in memory associated with the computer, the environment including office document device inventory, cost of operation and usage information for a plurality of pieces of office document equipment; analyzing the current state of the customer's office document equipment environment stored in the memory within a plurality of defined areas to characterize at least one cost and usage metric for each area, and aggregating such cost and usage metrics to generate project metrics, wherein analyzing the current state of the customer's office document equipment environment further comprises: entering inventory information, including equipment inventory and volume data, and mapping the equipment; and entering financial data relating to the cost of operation of at least one piece of equipment; the computer further generating a report depicting the current state of the customer's office document equipment environment in association with the project metrics; modeling, on the computer, projected operating costs of an optimized office document equipment environment for the customer, said model being based upon the usage metrics for the plurality of defined areas; downloading a models database to a local computer workstation, said models database including data reflecting office document equipment specifications and operating costs; and importing the models database for use relative to the current state.