General Support Guidelines
The first four statements relate to Baylor ITS support of technology equipment, software, and networking systems on campus and the last statement relates to support of personal equipment. The term "equipment" generally includes desktop workstations, laptops, mobile devices, and printers. The type of support provided depends on the usage of the systems as follows: office equipment, research lab and other lab equipment, departmental student lab equipment, University general access computer labs, and specialized systems such as departmental computer servers. Other factors used in determining the support that will be provided include the age of the equipment and the version of the software.
Support by Type of System
- Technology Equipment Support by ITS
Client Services will support all standard technology equipment purchased through the Technology Procurement process. These services include support of every phase of the life cycle of a departmental computer or server purchase including: installation, hardware maintenance, operating system support, software support, training and help desk support, backup/restore services, inventory tracking, and disposition. - Software Support by ITS
Support is provided for Baylor standard software used in offices on campus. There is a separate statement that details our Software Support Levels. There are three levels of support with A being the highest level of support and C being the lowest level of support. In general, only the latest two versions of any software product will be supported. - Networking Support by ITS
Network support is provided to University-owned equipment on campus. In order to obtain a network line or reactivation of an unused network line, a request must be initiated by the department chair and approved by the appropriate academic dean or vice president. If the equipment attached to the network line is supported by ITS, then ITS will troubleshoot any problems having to do with that equipment or network line. If the equipment attached to the network line is not supported by ITS, then the only support given will be to insure that the network line is working up to the network plug on the wall. Other support will be the responsibility of the department. If a new network line is required, ITS Networking Services will contact the Physical Plant for environmental safety testing before the wall surface is penetrated. The department may be responsible for charges related to this testing.
Support by Type of Usage
- Office Technology Equipment
In general, standard equipment and software purchased through Technology Procurement and used in offices on campus will be supported according to the hardware, software and networking support policies. - Departmental Student Labs
Equipment, software and networking systems that are in a departmental student lab may or may not receive ITS/Library and Academic Technology Services support, depending on the arrangements that have been made in advance. If a department desires support for their student labs, they should contact Library and Academic Technology Services with a detailed request of what support is desired. Unless there is an advanced agreement for support, there will not be any software support for departmental student labs. Hardware and networking support will be provided according to the policies specified. - Other Departmental System.
Client Services will assist departments and work with vendors on the configuration and purchase of departmental servers and turnkey software support for these servers provided that we are contacted before the purchase of the system and software. Networking support for these systems may be provided by Networking Services section of ITS, if agreed to in advance of their purchase.
Obsolete Equipment Listing
Departments should check the Hardware Support Level Maintenance Policies that indicates the equipment that will no longer be supported because of its age. ITS will update this listing annually and provide information regarding which equipment will most likely not be supported two years in advance. This document should be consulted during the department's budget planning process in order to request funding for replacement items. A list of equipment in each department indicating their replacement level is available in LanDesk. Departmental reports can be obtained from the LanDesk website.
Obsolete Software Listing
ITS provides a list of supported software that is routinely updated. Departments should make arrangements for the personnel to receive training on new versions of software and their computers should have one of the latest two versions of the software installed. It is the department's responsibility to purchase computers capable of utilizing the latest versions of software.
Policy for Support of Home and Personal Computers and Software
Baylor ITS provides general support for personal computers or related items for faculty, staff or students at HelpDesk+ on the garden level of Moody Memorial Library. All hardware repairs and more technical OS and software issues are referred to the Campus Technology Repair Center located in the Baylor Bookstore. Computers may certainly be taken to other computer repair shops, but Baylor ITS refers to the Campus Technology Repair Center due to their proximity and their ability to perform warranty repairs on Apple and Dell computers.