Guidelines for Hardware and Software Purchasing

These guidelines contain information and advice regarding the purchasing of hardware and software by staff in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (FAHSS).

Recommended Purchasing Practices

If an individual or section intends to purchase hardware (including peripheral devices such as printers and scanners) or software for work-related use, it is strongly recommended that advice from Faculty Computing (FC) be sought in the first instance. FC staff are able to offer guidance and recommendations that will contribute towards the individual or section making an informed decision regarding installation, compatibility and support issues. FC staff have strong contacts with many IT product vendors, and can provide reliable information regarding new products and special offers - offers which are not always advertised by the vendors and may result in considerable savings.

FC maintain a recommended purchasing list on their website (Recommended Purchasing List last updated on 30th October 2009), and items from this list can be purchased without reference to FC staff directly. Products can be added to this list if appropriate; users can send an email request to ithelp-fahss@uwa.edu.au where the product will be reviewed.

Note: On behalf of FAHSS, FC maintains a Recommended Purchasing List based on preferred suppliers and equipment. Despite some similarities, the items on this list are different from those on the UWA list; for all purchasing within FAHSS, please refer to the FC Recommended Purchasing List rather than the UWA documentation.

The Faculty, through FC, pays the cost of initial and ongoing support for products purchased from the recommended list. In following the advice from FC staff regarding purchasing IT products, sections are guaranteed a high-quality of support through compliance with the standard operating environment (SOE) of the Faculty. Approved IT purchases result in a quicker deployment of the product, quicker fixes and solutions to product problems, and more effective use of support resources in general.

Purchasing IT products not on the recommended list without prior consultation with FC (or against FC advice) will result in a delay to the deployment of the product and additional complications in ongoing support. Please note that the costs involved in providing ongoing support for a product that has been purchased against/without FC advice can be considerable, and consequently levels of support for all users are severely affected. For this reason, FC reserve the right to charge the owner of a product the full initial and ongoing costs of support for any machine purchased against FC advice. Faculty staff should be aware that the lifetime support costs of IT equipment will typically be many times higher than the initial purchase price.

Software products

Software purchasing can be complex and it is important that software licenses are properly interpreted to understand the permitted modes of use. All software licences used within FAHSS must be registered with FC to ensure legal compliance. Users wishing to obtain software for use on any Faculty asset should try to do this via FC if possible (i.e. providing a T-form to the FC team to undertake the purchase transaction). All software purchases made through UCS or external providers must be registered with FC via ithelp-fahss@uwa.edu.au together with a copy of the license agreement and purchase details. Similarly all hardware asset purchases must be registered with FC as they are often bundled with associated software products.

Users of Standard Operating Environment (SOE) machines can request changes to their machines software by contacting FC. Typically the School/Centre of the individual user will pay the cost of any additional licences unless they are deemed by FC to be of widespread benefit or are more cost effective if paid for centrally.

Replacement Strategies

When purchasing IT products, aim for equipment with at least a three-year warranty if possible.

It may be cost effective to sell the product towards the end of the three-year period, however, if there is no advantage to be gained, aim to sell the product when it is past either:

its productive age (bearing in mind replacement prices and support costs); or

past the supported life of its operating system (as defined by the manufacturer and/or FC [see below])

FC will no longer support:

Macintosh G4 systems past December 2009; or

Macintosh G5 systems past December 2010
Any PPC (Power Personal Computer) based iMac, iBook, Power Book.

In order for FC to maintain support for these systems (until the dates specified) the RAM (memory) in these older systems will need to be upgraded to a minimum of 2Gb.

Each business unit should budget ongoing recurrent funds for every IT asset in the section. This practice will ensure that replacement can occur as required, without unnecessary budgetary inconvenience.

For possible discounts, and to limit the number of versions in use, FC recommend that sections coordinate their purchasing, i.e. purchase more products at a time, but fewer times during each year. FC are willing to provide specific advice to FAHSS schools and sections regarding hardware/software replacement strategies.

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CRICOS Provider Code: 00126G
Last updated 30 Oct 2009 13:55
Location: http://www.fc.arts.uwa.edu.au/page/48927
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