Section 1300: Information Technology

Effective: November, 2016
Revised: April 2024
Last Review: March 2023
Next Review: March 2025
Responsible Party: Chief Information Officer

Per MSU-Northern policy 1322 Procurement of Information Technology Equipment and Software: Coordination with Information Technology Services (ITS) is required prior to ordering or accepting donation of any Information Technology (IT) related hardware, software (including cloud hosted software and services) or phone equipment. Examples include, but are not limited to: devices that connect to campus IT equipment or the wired or secure wireless network, any Wi-Fi device using standard frequencies, any software that will be installed on MSU-Northern owned equipment.

Introduction

A centralized IT procurement procedure benefits MSU-Northern by providing:

  • Brand and model standardization where appropriate
  • A campus-wide inventory of hardware and software to facilitate effective planning, maintenance, upgrades, and disposal
  • Pricing advantages obtained through volume purchasing and working with preferred vendors
  • The lowest possible Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and maximum value to the University
  • License compliance for software purchases
  • Hardware and software compatibility with the University's IT infrastructure
  • Hardware and software with a known "support state" at the time of purchase

Procedure

When a department decides to purchase IT equipment or software:

  1. Contact the ITS Help Desk (helpdesk@msun.edu) describing the type of equipment or software needed and what index(es) to charge.
  2. The ITS staff will work with the requestor to verify and determine the solution which will best meet their needs.
  3. ITS will let the requestor know what the estimated cost will be. 
  4. If the requestor wants to proceed with the purchase, ITS will make the purchase through SmartBuyMSU using the index(es) provided.
  5. Business Services will route the SmartBuyMSU request to the owner of the index(es) being charged for approval & ordering.


ITS will search for the most competitive price at the time of actual purchase.