Standards & Procedures

To ensure delivery of high-quality IT services with limited resources, maintain licensing compliance and secure environment, the following policies and procedures have been developed by MET IT department and approved by the Dean’s office.

Software and Hardware Standards

MET IT maintains hardware (HW) and software (SW) standards for all users of MET:

• HW standards
• SW Standards

Software Licensing

MET IT will obtain all the necessary licenses and install standard software applications on MET workstations. All requests for software currently not on the MET approved list should be submitted via form and accompanied by brief justification by the corresponding Department Chair/Director. We cannot assume responsibility for supporting workstations running software that we do not know about. MET IT periodically conducts automated auditing of all software installed on MET computers to ensure legal compliance.

Hardware Procurement

Each full-time employee at MET is entitled to one standard computer.  MET IT will purchase, install and support approved IT hardware including desktops, laptops, and other equipment. If necessary, MET IT will coordinate network installations, power connections, etc.  All non-standard requests will be evaluated and, if appropriate, added to the list of supported hardware.

Printers

MET IT will procure, install and support shared high-speed network multi-functional devices on every floor at 1010 Commonwealth Ave., Summer Term and Food and Wine locations based on BU standards.  Personal printers will be purchased and installed only for Department Chairs/Directors with proper justification. When requesting personal printer exceptions, please consider significantly higher ongoing operational costs for these printers.

Home Computers and Laptops for Personal Use

Please understand that we are unable to support home computers and laptops, or to provide software or hardware for personal use. We also cannot support hardware purchased without our authorization and without maintenance contracts.

Technology Replacement Cycles

To ensure our faculty and staff have access to the latest technology and work in a secure and reliable environment, while maintaining balanced budgets, MET IT follows the following technology update cycles:

• Desktop and laptop computers will be replaced on a 3 to 4 year cycle.
• Network printers will be replaced when appropriate based on wear, utilization, new technologies, etc.
• Software (operating systems, office and business applications) are updated on a regular basis to stay within vendor-established lifecycle window, minimize incompatibilities, and avoid problems with early adoptions. System software is typically updated every 5 years; application software usually has shorter update cycles defined by corresponding vendors.

Each year MET IT will identify the computers that are due for replacement according to our records. We will confirm the list of equipment to be replaced with the corresponding departments.

Hardware and Software Disposal Process

To protect our students, faculty and staff, secure intellectual property of BU, and to maintain compliance with existing University policies, all old IT equipment should be returned to MET IT ON THE DAY it is replaced or retired. MET IT will remove all personal information and licensed software and will determine the proper disposal options.

On-boarding and Off-boarding

MET IT will procure/redeploy the necessary hardware & software, and create appropriate accounts for new hires. For departing employees, we will take the necessary steps to secure information and terminate access to BU systems.
Department Chairs/Directors are responsible for timely On-boarding and Off-boarding forms submitting.