BU Policies
MET Policies
The following policies and procedures have been developed by MET Information Technology department (MET IT) to ensure delivery of high quality IT services with limited resources, save money on new purchases and maintenance contracts, maintain licensing compliance, secure MET IT environment, and meet Internal Audit requirements. These policies and procedures cover all networked system software (SW) and hardware (HW) used by MET faculty and staff while performing their job-related responsibilities.
MET and SHA Application Change Management- Any request for MET and SHA applications change comes from the application owner or director/chair of the corresponding department via this web form.
- IT manager approves requested changes and forwards the request to the corresponding developer and assigns an IT team member to manage implementation of this request.
- As a rule, all development should be conducted in the test environment provided by MET IT or developer. No changes are made to the production environment until documented and tested.
- Development team will be granted access to production environment only for the time period necessary to implement the change.
- Post implementation review should be conducted by all application users.
1. Software and Hardware Standards
MET IT maintains a list of SW and HW standards available at http://csmet.bu.edu/IT/policies.htm).
2. Software Licensing
MET IT will obtain the necessary licenses and install standard software applications on MET workstations and servers. All requests for software currently not on the MET approved list should be accompanied by brief justification and approved by the corresponding Department Chair/Director. MET IT will evaluate these requests and, if approved, negotiate licensing costs, procure, test and install the software.
Please understand that we cannot assume responsibility for supporting workstations running software that we do not know about. Responsibility for improper unauthorized software installation or configuration, and for potential security risks caused by such installation/configuration, lies with workstation users.
MET IT periodically conducts automated auditing of all software installed on MET computers to ensure legal compliance. Violations of this policy will be reported to Department Chairs/Directors.
3. Hardware Procurement
MET IT will purchase, install and support approved IT hardware including desktop computers, servers, printers, laptops, network cards, power supplies, modems, scanners and other equipment. If necessary, MET IT will coordinate network installations, power connections, etc.
All non-standard requests will be evaluated and, if appropriate, added to the list of supported hardware.
3.1. Printers
MET IT will procure, install and support shared high-speed network printers in every MET department and/or work area.
Personal printers will be purchased and installed only if requested by Department Chairs/Directors with proper justification. When requesting personal printer exceptions, please consider significantly higher ongoing operational costs for these printers.
3.2. Home Computers and Laptops for Personal Use
Please understand that we are unable to support home computers and laptops used for non work-related purposes, or to provide software or hardware for personal use. We also cannot support hardware purchased without our authorization and without maintenance contracts.
4. Technology Replacement Cycles
MET IT follows the following technology update cycles to ensure our faculty and staff have access to the latest technology innovations and can work in a secure and reliable environment, while maintaining balanced budgets.
- Desktop and laptop computers will be replaced on a three- to four-year cycle.
- Network printers will be replaced when appropriate based on wear, utilization, new technologies, etc. The lifetimes of printers vary but typically are four years.
- Servers, peripherals, and special needs equipment are renewed based on IT evaluation of its condition, need analysis, and availability of funds.
- Software (operating systems, office and business applications) are updated on a regular basis to stay within vendor-established lifecycle windows, minimize incompatibilities, and avoid problems with early adoptions unless justified. System software is typically updated every 5 years; application software usually has shorter update cycles defined by corresponding software vendors.
Each year MET IT will identify the computers and printers that are due for replacement according to our records. We will confirm the list of equipment to be replaced with the corresponding departments.
All request for individual out-of-cycle updates create significant overhead and should be approved and justified by Department Chairs/Directors.
5. Hardware and Software Disposal Process
To protect our students, faculty and staff, secure intellectual property of BU, and to maintain compliance with existing University policies, all old IT equipment should be returned to MET IT ON THE DAY it is replaced or retired. MET IT will remove all personal information and licensed software, and will determine the proper disposition options. We use special BU-approved software to wipe off and re-build old PCs.
6. New Hire and Resignation IT Check Lists
MET IT will procure/recycle the necessary hardware and software and create appropriate accounts for new hires. For departing employees we will take the necessary steps to secure information and terminate access to BU systems.
Department Chairs/Directors are responsible for timely notifications and should submit New Hire and Resignation forms as well as any special justified requests as soon as possible. When prompted to login, use AD\yourBUloginname as the user name and your Kerberos password. Please contact us directly (METIT@BU.EDU) if you need to discuss any special situations.
7. Feedback
If you have questions, comments or suggestions related to policies and procedures outlined above, please give us a call or send an email.
Hardware and Software Standards
Microsoft Windows Computer Standards - DELL OptiPlex family is the standard for desktops at MET.
Title |
Standard |
Recommended* |
CPU |
Pentium IV Class |
Pentium Dual Core |
Memory |
1 GB |
2 GB |
Hard Drive |
40GB |
80GB |
Optical Drive |
CD-R/W /DVD |
DVD-R/W |
Network |
Yes |
Yes |
UPS |
No |
Yes |
LCD |
17” Flat |
17”/19” Flat |
Apple Macintosh Computer Standards
Title |
Standard |
Recommended* |
CPU |
G5 Class/G4 |
Intel |
Memory |
1GB |
2GB |
Hard Drive |
40GB |
60GB |
Optical Drive |
CD-RW/DVD |
SuperDrive |
Network |
Yes |
Yes |
UPS |
No |
Yes |
LCD |
17” Flat |
17”/19” Flat |
- Recommended configurations might vary depending on your job function, please give us a call or email METIT@BU.EDU if you want to discuss.
Laptops Standards
Windows-based: DELL Latitude family
Apple- MacBook
Printing
While individual desktop inkjet printers are extremely affordable, replacement ink cartridges and support for these units represent a significant long-term expenditure for MET. Conversely, although networked printers are more expensive, toner is very reasonable and support is simplified due to the smaller number and higher quality of printers with standard 3-4 years warranty. In addition, larger networked printers generally hold up well over time, whereas inkjet printers are not economically feasible to maintain after the expiration of the warranty (one year). Therefore, MET standard printers are centralized high-speed, high volume HP LaserJet printers.
Personal printers will be installed ONLY for users with business justification (e.g. need to print confidential documents, remote offices, etc.).
Software & Licensing Standards
MET IT strives to stay current with new versions of supported applications and maintains licensing compliance for those applications. We usually purchase several "test" licenses of new applications, evaluate the stability of these products, and measure demand for them within MET.
We will update and release new applications when we are capable of providing a college-wide support structure. We will purchase, maintain and upgrade all licenses for the standard software. We will also reassign licenses and get volume discounts when possible to minimize costs.
All applications outside the ones currently being offered by MET will be supported on a best effort basis. Each department is responsible for purchasing and/or maintaining software licenses for applications not currently supported by MET IT.
We maintain the latest versions of all software in the list below:
- All Microsoft Software as part of our subscription (http://msdn04.e-academy.com/elms/Storefront/Storefront.aspx?campus=bu_mccs)
- Microsoft Office Pro
- Microsoft Office Macintosh Edition
- FileMaker Pro
- SAS
- SPSS
- Maple
- MATLAB
- Mathematica
- Oracle
- Adobe Premier
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Web Premium
- Dreamweaver
- Flash Professional
- Photoshop Extended
- Illustrator
- Fireworks
- Acrobat Professional
- Contribute
- Mozilla Firefox
- Cisco VPN Client
- McAfee VirusScan
- WinZip
NOTE: We will continue to support Office 2003; we will begin rolling out Office 2007 in 2009 on individual basis per your request.
(Last updated 9/4/08)
