(A) It is hereby declared to be the policy of the county to manage its information technology and allow its utilization in an optimum manner. In determining the useful life, and in deciding to replace or retain information technology equipment, the following factors will be considered:
(1) Cost of operation;
(2) Reliability (amount and frequency of down time and safety);
(3) Job performance capability (including applicability);
(4) Capability to increase efficiency of staff and services; and
(5) Costs to repair/upgrade versus replacement (due to changing application requirements or user needs or system failure).
(B) Each of the factors enumerated above shall be considered in reaching a decision to replace or retain an item. Each factor enumerated above is directly affected by the degree and nature of utilization. Utilization shall be considered as a basis of projecting useful life for replacement planning purposes.
(C) Stability of pricing and rapidly changing technology are also issues for consideration within the replacement criteria. As information technology changes the traditional computing environment changes and forces objective consideration of replacement criteria and standards.
(D) Information technology equipment considered a candidate for the Information Technology Replacement Fund must be microprocessor based with a value greater than an amount determined by the county manager at the beginning of each fiscal year. The value of the hardware equipment shall include the software cost for the operating system and application software, if applicable. Information technology equipment will be divided into the following categories:
(1) Personal computers. Personal computers are defined as desktop computers and monitors, which are attached to the desktop computer, emulation terminals, and laptop/portable computers.
(2) Servers. Servers will be defined as microprocessor based computers that provide connections by client computers to perform operations or processing.
(3) Printers. Printers are defined as a print device that has a microprocessor and network connectivity capability. Individual desktop printers will not be included in the information technology plan.
(4) Network and communication equipment. Network equipment is defined as core network equipment that has an operating system and provides network connectivity between facilities or when connecting more than ten network users: communication equipment is defined as voice over internet protocol (VOIP) telephony equipment which allows communication over an IP network: uninterrupted power supplies (UPS) are defined as any battery backup device used to keep networking equipment up during power outages. Individual desktop UPS’ will not be included in the information technology plan.
(5) In the event information technology equipment is replaced with funds other than information technology funds, such as grants, drug seizure funds, or etc., the equipment will be considered replaced and the replaced equipment will be retired or redeployed at the discretion of the county manager. The new equipment will then become a part of the Information Technology Replacement Fund for replacement as normally scheduled in the fund. The associated fund balance for such replaced equipment will be placed back in the Information Technology Replacement Fund.
(Ord. 2403, passed 9-2-03; Am. Ord. 912, passed 4-9-12)