Technology Replacement and IT Asset Lifecycle Management – William James College Helpdesk

Scope and Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to provide a guideline on when technology used in college needs to be evaluated for replacement. Proper replacement of the technology in place is required to assure the college is up to date with security measures and vulnerability patches, as well as the technology, remain on par with modern standards. It covers any software, hardware, or SaaS subscriptions that are owned or managed by the Office of Information Technology and Services.

Hardware Assets

Asset Tagging - each asset is tagged with William James College Asset Management Sticker with a 6 digit unique identifier, and recorded in the Asset Management System. This includes any assets that are:

Computer Accessories of $50 (each) or more in value.
Desktops, Laptops, Monitors, Printers

Exceptions:

Physical Servers and Network Hardware are tracked in vendor managed asset system (ITGlue)
Adapters, cables, and expendable/replacement parts.

Procurement

Replacement

Replacements are estimated based on the estimated EOL date and budgeted 1 fiscal year ahead. Each replacement will be evaluated in 3 factors:

Whether the unit requires replacement to continue to function in the current role, or if the role/function can be phased out or can be transferred to a different active unit.
Whether the cost of the replacement have exceed the original purchase value of the original unit
Whether the technology used by the current unit is no longer up-to-date and if different model / manufacturer should be considered for scalability and compatibility with newer technology.

A replacement decision is then made based on the conclusion of the evaluation.

New Purchases

The IT Office will receive purchase request or initiate a purchase request when the IT office deems it as necessary. Each purchase requests will be evaluated based on 4 factors:

Is this something the College already have? Or have enough of it?
Does the college already have something else that can perform the same function or have enough capacity to take over additional roles?
Will the new purchase be compatible with the current environment and will not be a constraint for future upgrade/expansions?
Will the new purchase serves it’s predetermined functions properly, and has it been properly researched assessed for its purpose?

End-Of-Life (EOL)

A hardware asset has reached its EOL status when one of these conditions have been met:

The failed asset is beyond repair, or the estimated cost of repair is more than 50% of the value of unit.
The manufacturer has discontinued the support to the unit, or a manufacturer maintenance warranty is no longer available for the unit.
The unit’s technology specifications no longer compatible with the rest of the assets in the environment.
All hardware assets follows the standard EOL definition, and working in accordance with manufacturer documentation and vendor recommendations. This includes computer monitors, printers and other hardware. College issued laptops and desktops have “commission period” which is described in a separate section below.

Decommission / Repurpose

Any hardware asset that has not reached EOL status but have been decommissioned due to role and function change, will be evaluated for repurpose. If it is still in good condition, the asset will be marked for repurpose, and can be used for other implementations when suitable. Else, it will be marked for Disposal.

All hardware, if contains data element, will follow strict data destruction policy per Information Security Program. Data storage elements are marked for destruction. All other parts are inventoried and stored until a recycling company can be called for pickup. Recycling vendors are called every 6 months or as needed. Decommissioned equipment without data elements can also be donated to other suitable non-profit organizations if requested.

College Issued Laptops and Desktops

The college may issue a work laptop for any full time or part time staff, faculty, or other special cases.
Laptops are procured with a standard 3 year vendor maintenance contract.
The standard commission period of a College Issued Laptop is 4 years, and for desktop it is 5 years.
The current user of the issued laptop will be notified by the IT Department for replacement, when the issued laptop is 6 months before the end of the commission period.
Once the issued laptop has been decommissioned, it will be evaluated for repurposing depending on its condition.