Technology Refresh Procedures: Administrative Use
Needs Assessment
Prior to purchase, a needs assessment is performed within the department to determine the base line requirements for the system. Because of the diversity of the University academic and administrative environment and the availability of a technology support staff to support a large number of configurations, systems are built up from standard models to meet the needs of the campus technology user. In general this assessment is performed within the department making the acquisition. Power users tend to be more active in the assessment phase than the general campus technology users. IT staff are available to provide support in doing a needs assessment at the request of the department.
Assessment Review
IT offers a centralized requisition process to assist departments in the preparation of equipment orders. During this process, IT takes the time to review the configurations to insure that they meet the needs of the campus technology user and the equipment is compatible with the university technology infrastructure. Requisitions are produced and returned to the department head. The department head has final approval over the process and if they concur, will forward all the paperwork to the university's purchasing office for acquisition.
Installation
Upon arrival, equipment is inventoried for completeness and an asset number is assigned. Equipment is then transferred from receiving to the department. The department then calls the IT Help Desk to have an installation work request issued. IT staff arrive and perform the installation of the basic software configuration transfer files from replaced system as necessary and complete all required configurations to enable software applications and permit network accessibility. Should a system be replaced, the department head will either make it available within the department through a cascade type scenario or transfer the equipment to salvage. Often, when equipment is removed from service within a department, it is made available to other departments via a university wide e-mail distribution list.
Training
As the basic software configuration changes and the need presents itself; IT offers a training curriculum for campus technology users of the various software packages. Additional training on specialty software applications is available upon request. When possible, these are done as classes available to all faculty and staff at the university.
Maintenance
IT provides a staff of technicians to perform service calls on systems around campus. Usually these service calls are performed on site and are resolved within 2 hours. Typical of this type of service call would include software updates, new software installs, and correction of a configuration files. Problems requiring a more lengthy service call requiring specialized test equipment or higher skilled technician may require the system to be brought back to the IT offices for more extensive repairs. All service is performed and logged through the use of an Computer Associates Advanced Help Desk tool that allows us to monitor the frequency and types of errors that a particular system or group of similar systems may be having.
General Notes Regarding Technology Refresh
If an item being acquired must be technology current, assume a replacement cycle of 36 months and also consider leasing. Base systems that you expect to have in service for period in excess of 36 months should be purchased. Upgrading systems, in general, is not cost competitive when taking a look at the whole picture. For example putting an accelerator card in a desktop may extend the desktops life an additional six to twelve months at 80% the cost of a new system. The exception to this is memory. Memory upgrades when possible achieve significant performance improvements at nominal cost when the system being upgraded uses traditional inexpensive memory components.