Computer and IT Procurement Policy - Mechanical Engineering
Computer/IT Purchase & Inventory Information
For assistance with system configurations or quotes for IT purchases, please email mech-it@austin.utexas.edu with your request. ME IT will coordinate with various vendors to leverage higher education pricing, warranty options, and ensure your system can meet the minimum security standards while meeting your technical, teaching and research needs. UT and Mechanical Engineering primarily purchase Dell Enterprise/Business products for Windows and Linux needs as well as other business-class hardware from trusted brands for reliability, security, and supportability.
University Policy
The Information Resources Use and Security Policy - Standard 19.6 states - “All units are required to have their local IT Systems Custodian(s) participate in processing (e.g., inventory, standards verification, configuration) of all IT procurements (e.g., network-capable computing devices and large dollar or high risk software). This includes but is not limited to any university owned devices that have the ability to store university data or use the university wired or wireless networks. Examples of these types of computing devices include but are not limited to: laptops, desktop computers, servers, network-attached storage devices, and tablet devices.”
State of Texas Prohibited Technologies - https://compliance.utexas.edu/prohibited-technology-and-covered-applications
Senate Bill 1893 - Bans TikTok and other prohibited technologies (software and hardware) affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from all state-owned devices and networks.
State Executive Order GA-48 - UT Austin cannot make, renew, or extend contracts for goods or services with specified Prohibited Entities, i.e., vendors or contractors. This restriction applies to all purchases regardless of funding source, cost, procurement type, or payment type.
Department Policy to Adhere to the IRUSP and Texas State Law.
Per the IRUSP, ME Information Technology is required to be involved (from the beginning) of ALL computer and IT purchases PRIOR to finalizing your purchase. This includes ALL methods of procurement (ProCard, UT Market, Amazon Business accounts, Purchase Orders). This ensures all compute devices are business/enterprise models, meet university and state compliance (regardless of operating system and network status), and are approved for the university network (wired & wireless).
This includes computers or similar control devices acquired/bundled with research lab equipment. ME IT must be involved PRIOR to any purchase request submission involving computers regardless of source. We will work with the equipment vendor to ensure requirements are met and recommend alternatives where applicable.
IT equipment purchased that does not meet university standards or compliance must go through an exception process with the UT Information Security Office and ME IT. Without approval, these devices may not be placed into production and may need to be returned. If we do retain the equipment, it will be blocked from connecting to the UT network (wired and/or wireless) and require manual oversight and management of the device.
General Guidelines
Endpoint Management Requirements
IRUSP Standard 19.3.1 - All endpoint devices (e.g., laptops, desktops, tablets) owned by the University must be managed by the centrally available Endpoint Management Platforms, unless an exception request has been approved by the U. T. Austin Information Security Office.
Encryption Requirements
All UT Austin computing equipment such as desktops, laptops, servers, and external storage devices are required to be encrypted in accordance to University policy. Therefore, each purchase should be vetted through ME IT to ensure encryption compliance can be met.
UT Surplus Computers and Cost-Saving Options
For support and security reasons, computers MUST NOT be retrieved from UT Surplus to be repurposed for use in the department as an attempt to reduce the financial burden of procuring supported computers. Your upfront cost “savings” are shifted to reduced performance/increased compute time, highly-unreliable equipment with much longer downtime between fixes, and increased IT support overhead for the department. Peripheral IT equipment (monitors, keyboard, mouse, etc) retrieved from surplus will not be supported if they experience issues and will be treated similar to personal equipment. If there are valid budget constraints for procuring standardized, new computers, ME IT can work with you on cheaper alternatives or provide our own extra inventory on hand on a first come, first serve basis.
Device Operating System | Processor | Security Features | Recommended Warranty |
|---|---|---|---|
Windows Enterprise | Intel Core, Xeon, AMD | TPM Chipset Required for BitLocker | 4 or 5-year with accidental coverage |
Apple macOS | Intel, ARM (M-series) | FileVault | 3 or 4-year with accidental coverage, no service fees |
Linux (primarily Ubuntu) | Intel Core, Xeon, AMD | LUKS and/or Self-encrypting drive. Leveraging TPM with Linux is being investigated. | 4 or 5-year with accidental coverage |
Server OS | Intel Xeon and AMD | TPM is preferred in most cases and required for confidential data. | 4+ year |
Operating System Requirements and Warranty Recommendations
A supported operating system is required for any UT device to reside on the university's network (wired and wireless). This includes Windows, macOS and Linux versions (primarily Ubuntu) that are still being supported/patched.
Windows Enterprise is required to implement Bitlocker Encryption and our security policies such as AppLocker (Home versions are not supported). Other versions will be assessed case-by-case.
A minimum of a 3-year extended hardware warranty is highly recommended for all new computing devices. If it's a mobile device, then accidental coverage (drops/spills) is highly recommended. Our standard purchase for Dell computers is a 5-year warranty with accidental damage coverage that provides next business day onsite parts and service (Dell ProSupport Plus).
Network Capable Devices
Although some of these devices are necessary for academic or research purposes, ME IT must be informed before procurement of all equipment that can or will be connected to the UT network or store university data.
These type of computing devices can range from a variety of hardware connected to the UT wired (physical wall port) or wireless network.
Examples of such devices include:
Network Attached Storages (NAS) devices (e.g., Synology DiskStations, Qnap)
Robotics-related equipment
Research lab equipment and bundled computers
Consumer-based network switches, hubs, routers, wireless-access points (e.g., D-Link, Linksys, Netgear devices) ← These should never be purchased and/or placed on the network without approval from ME IT (Network Operations Manual)
Embedded systems used for complex/specialized applications and prototyping (e.g., National Instruments cRIO-9082)