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Hardware Assessment
Assess what you have -- and learn what you need
January 31, 2003
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New hardware is a big investment, both in terms of time, money, and staff resources. Make sure your investment pays off by taking the time to think through your organization's inventory and requirements. The questionnaire below will help you assess your current hardware systems and determine future acquisitions.
- How much money has your organization spent on computer hardware or maintenance in the past year?
- What is your organization's current budget for computer systems?
- What is your budget for technology support and maintenance?
- If your budget isn't enough to meet your needs, have you explored additional fundraising options?
- How many computers are in your organization's main location? Do you have an equipment inventory?
- Are your systems standardized or wildly varied? For example, do you have a combination or Macs and PCs? A mix of newer and older machines?
- If you are working with different platforms or systems, does this cause problems? How serious are they?
- Does your organization have any satellite locations? How many computers are at each site?
- Do all employees who need computers have them? Are these machines adequate for the tasks your staff must perform?
- Are your computers new enough to run the necessary software? Can they support the Internet, database, and network configuration you need? How many machines are not up to speed?
- How many new or upgraded computers would you estimate you need? (Try to determine both the least possible and optimum amounts.)
- Based on what you intend to use the computers for, what would be the minimum configuration acceptable for any new computers you acquire?
- Can your organization accept used or refurbished computers? If yes, do you have the knowledgeable staff, time, and budget to locate, install, and configure these?
- What kind of printers do you use at each of your sites? Are they adequate for your needs? What do you use them for? (Graphics? Word processing? Desktop publishing?) What additional functionality would you like from them?
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Our organization creates the baseline hardware model that all the users will need in order to complete their job. All the hardware has asset tags and is listed in our database to be accounted for. This also lets us know who has what so if they requ...
TechSoup's Hardware Assessment worksheet offers questions you can use to assess the equipment you have and to learn what you need. Suggested considerations include your organzation's budget, current inventory, and required functionality. ...
