BP.03.009 - Business Practice for Personal Computer Inventory

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Table of Contents

• History
• Purpose
• Background
• Business Practice
  • Accountability
  • Applicability
  • Definition(s)
  • Text
• Exhibit(s)
  • Assessment History

History [top]

• Business Practice Number: BP.03.009
• Version: 1
• Drafted By: Peter Mosinskis
• Approved By: Michael Berman
• Approval Date: 02/07/2012
• Latest Revision Date: 11/29/2012

Purpose [top]

To facilitate communication regarding the portfolio of personal computers (PCs) at CSU Channel Islands and to provide for a uniform process for maintenance of the portfolio.

Background [top]

The University currently supports a portfolio of over 2500 PCs, including desktop, laptop, and mobile devices, and it is necessary to accurately track changes across that portfolio.

Business Practice [top]

Accountability [top]

Vice President for Information Technology Services

Applicability [top]

All ITS employees

Definition(s) [top]

1. PC. A desktop, laptop, tablet or other personal computing device purchased by the University. Public-use devices, such as lab computers, classroom computers, loaned computers and kiosk computers are included in this definition.
2. Inventory. The central, authoritative repository and system of record for information on University personal computers (PCs), and the corresponding data contained in the repository.
3. Inventory Administrator. The ITS staff member (or manager) responsible for day-to-day administration and maintenance the inventory, including additions, changes, deletions and corresponding reporting.
4. Assigned User. The University employee to whom a PC is issued and who is ultimately responsible for that device. For computers that exist in a shared environment (such as labs or classrooms), the Assigned User is the manager for the department/program/unit (or their designee) most closely associated with that environment.

Text [top]

The Division shall provide an authoritative, central, web-based repository to maintain records of University personal computers, including desktop, laptop, and tablet devices. The repository will be built to enable ease of access, updating and reporting, and have the ability to export to other formats should additional reporting be required. In addition, the inventory shall provide an authoritative list of assigned users associated with each device.

For each PC record, the following data shall be documented in the inventory at minimum:

1. The manufacturer service tag or serial number
2. The University asset tag
3. The manufacturer and model of the computer
4. The department and corresponding division to which the PC is assigned
5. The physical location of the PC, including building and room number
6. The operating system software installed on the PC, including its version
7. The purchase date of the computer
8. The warranty expiration date of the computer.
9. The name of the assigned user
10. Whether the computer exists in a shared environment
11. Whether a home use permit has been completed and approved for a given computer

Additional data fields may be required, and shall be added or revised in the future as needed. Optional data fields for each record may also be specified.

Due to the sensitive nature of inventory data, access to the inventory shall be restricted to specified University personnel on a need-to-know basis, and will not be made available to the general public.

Additions/Changes to the inventory

The inventory shall be updated when:

• A new PC is purchased or put into service
• An existing PC is modified, moved or decommissioned
• An existing PC is reassigned to a new user
• A user assigned to a PC separates from the University.

ITS employees associated with each of these operations activities shall make changes directly to the inventory. The inventory system will contain an audit log to enable the Inventory Administrator to monitor changes to the inventory data.

The Inventory Administrator is responsible for enabling access for Division employees to the inventory system for the purpose of maintaining the inventory as required.

Only the Inventory Administrator (IA) shall delete PC records from the inventory. ITS employees associated with inventory update processes may mark PC records for deletion, but shall not delete PC records. Prior to deletion of PC records from the inventory, the IA will create a report containing all minimum information and a brief narrative explaining the reason for deletion for each record to be deleted. The IA will provide the report to the VP for Information Technology Services (ITS) for approval. Once the VP for ITS approves, the IA shall delete the specified records from the inventory, and maintain an archive of deleted PC records.    

Reporting

The Inventory Administrator is responsible for generating reports for Division leadership as needed.

Governance and Review

While reasonable care has been taken to create an inventory system that reduces bad data resulting from human error, the Inventory Administrator is ultimately responsible for the accuracy of the data in the system. The Inventory Administrator will perform regular checks of the inventory data as necessary to quickly resolve any discrepancies, inaccuracies or incorrect data.

On a regular basis, the Division shall conduct a review of the computers in the inventory to ensure accuracy. The Inventory Administrator is responsible for coordinating this review with all other Divisions.

During the regular review process, each Division executive shall receive a list of all computing devices within their division in electronic format, and shall review and provide written updates of the list of client/owners on an annual basis.

It is recommended that the Division review the computer inventory on an annual basis.

Exhibit(s) [top]

Computer Inventory System: https://creator.zoho.com/judyfrazier/computer-inventory.  Please contact Inventory Administrator for access.

Assessment History [top]