From starting out with a new hire, to getting upgraded, to being dispositioned and replaced with a newer computer, your LSA managed computer goes through a lot during its life cycle here at the college. The lifecycle of a single device includes: purchasing, unboxing, labeling, adding to inventory, setting up the Operating System, adding standard applications, and finally, when the device needs replacement or upgrading, sending it to property disposition. Currently, these phases are done by different regional teams in LSA Technology Services that are scattered across campus. To create a more efficient and effective way of managing the lifecycle of computers within the college, LSA Technology Services has created a team dedicated to this process.
The idea to coordinate the different stages of LSA managed devices came from a project where managers and supervisors in the Research Computing and Infrastructure (RCI) unit of LSA Technology Services discussed their visions for the future of their teams. This project was called “I Dream of RCI.” They wanted to implement a more automated and consistent process for all the steps within an LSA managed device’s lifecycle.
Having one centralized team to handle all of the phases in a device’s lifecycle allows the regional teams to focus on serving the staff or faculty member. The Hardware Lifecycle Team will initially focus on staff and instructional computing upgrades in FY23 to pilot the concept. The regional team can use their time with the customer to get a better understanding of how the staff or faculty member plans to use their computer to adequately do their work for the college. Such as, do they need additional applications, more storage, or a data transfer. The Hardware Lifecycle Team, says Erich Suddendorf, supervisor of the team, will be able to “deliver [the regional team] a box of everything they need for the end user. All they have to do is any final touch-ups. Then they can go and deliver a complete package to the end user.”
During the past several months, the team has assembled its members and has had several planning discussions. Stefan von Werder was selected as Team Lead and currently has the help of two Team Associates, Daniel Brown and Hans Mendiola. They worked with LSA Facilities to come up with creative ways to use physical space currently occupied by LSA Technology Services’ teams, allowing them the storage and working space necessary to store equipment and conduct all of the tasks associated with each step in the lifecycle process. The team has also ordered all of the necessary moving and packaging materials. They are continuing their partnership with regional managers to discuss how to handle staff upgrades in the future, as well as how this team will integrate into LSA Technology Services’ inventory management process. Additionally, they are currently delivering equipment to regional offices and serving as support staff to assist regional teams in their goal to finish all of the FY20 through FY22 (pandemic) upgrade backlogs by June 30.
While this team is currently still in development, they plan to be fully operational by fall. Right now, the team is starting to use this new process with staff computer upgrades and instructional computing. Eventually, they will utilize the process with faculty machines, and possibly, even later, with research computing. A more immediate goal is to start implementing the disposition phase of the lifecycle into this team’s process. The team also plans to collect data about the process to drive future decisions. By examining trends in purchasing, the team hopes to be able to forecast computing needs. They hope to be able to go to the regional teams and say, “We already know what you’re going to need. We have an order ready. Are you ready to start deploying [the computers]?”, indicated Suddendorf. Being able to anticipate what type and quantity of machines are needed will allow for cost effective bulk ordering. They will also be able to better track and implement upcoming computer upgrades.
Overall, the Hardware Lifecycle Team has bright plans for the future. They are looking forward to optimizing the lifecycle workflow and helping the regional teams build stronger relationships with their customers by allowing them to focus on the specific computer needs faculty and staff need to do their work at LSA.
