Computer Lifecycle Guidelines

Computer Lifecycle defines the process of acquisition (requirement specifications, purchasing, and funding), installing, maintaining/managing, and disposing of computer equipment, peripherals, and associated software. Personal Computers and associated devices should be viewed as strategic assets because they are the primary productivity and communication tools used by nearly all of our employees. Less than optimal performance or non-operable computer devices can severely impact employee productivity and normal business processes including teaching and learning.

1. The KACE agent will be installed and monitored on all university-owned Windows and Macintosh systems to provide detailed usage and configuration information prior to replacement consideration.
2. Information Technology will work with the current computer inventory and KACE data to establish the computers and other devices currently assigned to each employee for their exclusive use. Computer assignments will be tracked and maintained by position.
3. Information Technology will use the computer inventory and KACE data to identify other computers assigned for use for other purposes and identify their purpose and requirements. An assessment will be made from KACE data of the Return on Investment (ROI) for such systems and recommend to the Budget Office and Senior Leadership Team lifecycle replacement or reallocation of the units based on a uniform ROI.
4. A list of computer replacements based on minimum lifecycle replacement will be identified for employee assigned devices and a review of the employee’s needs will be assessed. Devices that do not meet the minimum standards within the lifecycle will be replaced with either surplus computers in inventory or new systems depending on available funding.
5. New full-time tenure and tenure-track faculty are to receive a new computer. If a computer exists for the position, that computer will be reimaged and deployed within the Budget Unit if needed. Otherwise it will be returned to surplus for redeployment.
6. For desktop units, the hard drive of the existing computer may be added as the secondary hard drive. This will assure that no information from the previous machine is lost.
7. A review of part time faculty, student employee, and GA needs will be made with the assumption that shared systems will be provided based on logistics and type of work.
8. The Senior Leadership will establish a review committee to:
   • Establish standards for the review of new computing device requests and for lifecycle replacement requests.
   • Establish a workflow and approval process for all requests.
   • Establish an exception process and approval forms.
   • Establish evaluation criterion for the review of requests for mobile devices to replace or supplement desktop or other mobile computing devices.
   • Determine optimal buying cycles for bulk purchasing and deadlines.
9. Although the request process is being centralized, a full commitment to maintain detailed cost allocations to charge business units to establishing the costs associated with operating that unit will be maintained and reported on a regular basis.

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