Why Hardware & Software Standards?
In recent years the number of computers on this campus has grown tremendously. IT Hardware and Software Support Standards define support levels for different types of computer platforms, operating systems and software applications that are in use around campus. IT can provide excellent service to people whose computers adhere to these standards. IT has found that most of the problems that people experience with non-standard computers are related to a few factors.
Aging Computers
Many computers on campus are 5 - 10 years old. Older computers very often do not have the ability to run current operating systems and applications properly. Further, the user's computing needs are beyond the technological ability of the aging computers.
Operating System Incompatibilities
When a computer's operating system is upgraded repeatedly without cleaning up pieces of old operating systems the computer can experience problems caused by incompatibilities between old and new parts of the operating system.
Aging Applications
Out of date applications often have problems coexisting with new software, operating systems, or computer hardware.
Mystery Files
Many people on campus have "hand-me-down" computers. These have been passed on with many of the previous users' applications, system software, personal data and preference files. Most users aren't sure what can and can not be safely deleted, so the files remain or get moved to a storage folder. These files can eventually cause incompatibility problems with newer software.
This is where the standards come in. If users adhere to a basic set of standards in hardware and software many of these problems are avoided completely. Used in conjunction with procedures IT has established for workstation setup and maintenance, it is faster and easier for IT to fix problems when they do occur, and the overall downtime users experience is reduced.
Further, using the new standards, IT personnel can focus their training and procedural development on supported equipment and software, thereby improving the quality of service IT provides the campus for supported hardware and software.