Although the enticements of receiving donated IT equipment may initially appear desirable, our experience has generally proven questionable at best unless a few rules of thumb are followed:
- Explicitly pursue the type and quantity of equipment you need for a
specific purpose.
- In general, if a vendor approaches you and offers equipment, they are likely attempting to dump undesirable equipment that may be idiosyncratic or challenging in other ways.
- Please consult with the IT group that will directly support your equipment
to ensure they have the skill set and ability to support your potential
donation.
- Please don't assume the IT group will have the skills or ability to support the equipment in the way you need, else you both may be disappointed and frustrated and support may not be available.
- Although donated computers are appreciated, they often require an additional output of time and support. For this reason the ITG can potentially offer only limited support which would need to be determined based upon specific circumstances.
- In addition, CPUs must be running the current operating system (Windows XP Professional) and meet security requirements before they can be added to the School’s network.
Please remember that ongoing system administration is the major cost of owning an IT device. Although you may perceive support as free, it truly has cost implications that you may not realize.
Please also note that the ITG has recommendations for equipment/software and may even have “repurposable” equipment to meet modest computing needs. This strategy of standardization provides stability and maintains productivity for our end users and also helps reduce costs. Please see our web site or contact our Service Desk for further, current details.