Desktop Systems Installation Policy

It is the primary responsibility of the Client Support Staff to maintain and support desktop equipment, hardware and software, with as little downtime as possible. The installation of new systems or trickle-downs significantly degrades the support staff’s response time for daily support calls.

To help maintain a manageable inventory level, a system must be retired (returned to IS) when a new one is purchased or trickled to someone else in the department.

The division’s vice president's signature is required if a new system or a trickle-down results in the net addition of a system to the campus computer inventory.   

During the summer, the systems required for the classrooms and labs are purchased and installed. Systems included in the budget for employees should also be purchased as part of the summer install process. Purchasing systems in mass affords the University a better purchase price.

The cost of new systems and trickle-downs during the summer includes an installation fee that provides funding to cover the cost of the additional human resources necessary to complete the process before the fall semester begins. This fee is delineated in the yearly Information Services Summer Purchase Memo to all departments to assist in the preparation of departmental budgets. All systems require basic configuring for the installation of the University’s standard setup, including access to our network and standardized applications (e.g. Microsoft Office). Some new systems and trickle-downs require the migration of files and settings from another system. These installations will be subject to a higher installation fee than those not requiring the migration of files and settings. The installation procedures are detailed in Appendices A and B.

New systems and trickle-downs installed during the fall and spring semesters will experience a significantly longer wait time before installation. Depending upon model availability, the time of receipt for a new system from our vendor is three to six weeks. During the fall and spring semesters, when new systems are received they will be assigned the lowest work priority level (up to 1 month to complete). However, there is no fee associated with these installations. If you require faster installation during this time, it will be necessary to bring in additional human resources for the installation. These special installations will be billed on a time and materials basis at $65 per hour. The average installation takes three hours.

Trickle-downs
Trickle-downs are systems that are still technologically current enough to be used by the University. Computer systems are typically purchased with a three or four year warranty. After the warranty has expired, a system may be deemed uneconomical to maintain. If that is the case, when the PC is replaced with a new system, it is assigned to storage to be recycled or used for repair parts. If the system is determined to still be usable, it can become a trickle-down.

Trickle-downs occur first within a department and must replace a PC already in use. Trickle-downs can not add to the department’s net PC population without divisional approval. If a department has extraneous PCs that still have value, they should be transferred to other departments within the division based upon division approval. Information Services maintains a small number of trickle-downs that are used on an emergency need basis and depending upon availability.

Exceptions
During the fall and spring semesters, new systems for new employees or systems needed to replace systems beyond repair will be handled as high priority calls.