Preface:

The Information Systems (IS) Office works with other technical offices on campus to ensure that clients directly connected to the College of Medicine and Public Health/Office of Health Sciences Local Area Network (LAN) are provided with the appropriate software applications via the file server. Standardization on software (and hardware) allows for better technical management, timely software updates, and lower costs in terms of licensing and technical support.

There are times when a client will need to have specific software applications and/or files loaded on their workstation that are perhaps client-based and/or specific only to their needs or set-up. This document is intended to provide guidelines as to how an end-user should proceed in having such applications/files loaded.

Priority:

A responsibility of the Office is to provide technical management of the file server and LAN-based hardware and software. The Office works to maintain the integrity of the system and to prevent unnecessary down times for the end-users. A primary way of achieving this objective is to carefully check that any additions to the LAN or a user's workstation are compliant with the existing set-up. Involvement of the Office staff prior to the installation of a specific application will help avoid unnecessary problems that may occur at the workstation level, or even on the LAN. Should there be conflicts, the IS Office will work to resolve such conflicts should the software/files be deemed necessary for the requester to fulfill position-related responsibilities. Applications that have conflicts and simply replicate what is already available (e.g., screen saver) and/or they are not needed as part of the user's position will not be installed and time spent to resolve such conflicts will be limited.

In addition, the IS Office is committed to 100 % compliance with software copyrights and licensing requirements. Therefore, proof of ownership, which may include the software license and/or original diskettes or documentation, will be required if the requester wishes to have the software installed.

Process:

A faculty or staff member connected to the LAN and wishes to have a specific application installed should call 3-3861 or e-mail the IS Office (found in the GroupWise directory) with the name of the application, version, and purpose. The Office will schedule a staff member to go to the requester's work site.

Troubleshooting/Support

A responsibility of the IS Office is to troubleshoot problems and conflicts. Again, the main thrust of the support will be for platform-supported software. Should conflicts develop after a specific application has been installed on a user's workstation, the Office will work to resolve the conflict for applications needed for a person's position. Should a conflict develop with a non-job specific application due to some future system upgrade (hardware and/or software) the application will be removed and the end-user will be advised of possible alternatives.

The risks associated with the use of non-platform software is entirely assumed by the end-user.