Current Computer Replacement Policy

[craiggsmith]

Does anyone know if the regular (5 year?) computer replacement policy is back in effect? I had one from 2004 replaced last year, and another from the same date replaced this year. They were in really bad shape. I still have at least 3 that are more than 5 years old, and the newest of those is in bad shape so I assume the others are. I haven't been able to check all the computers in my stake yet.

[aebrown]

Does anyone know if the regular (5 year?) computer replacement policy is back in effect? I had one from 2004 replaced last year, and another from the same date replaced this year. They were in really bad shape. I still have at least 3 that are more than 5 years old, and the newest of those is in bad shape so I assume the others are. I haven't been able to check all the computers in my stake yet.

The 5 year replacement cycle is noted in the policy document, but it is more like a guideline, and is subject to FM Group budgets. It sounds like you are the stake technology specialist. If so, it is your responsibility to be aware of the status of all the computers in your stake. If an administrative computer is in such bad shape that it has a negative impact on the ward's ability to function effectively, you should promptly make the FM Group aware of the situation (usually through your stake PFR). And you should also make sure that the FM Group is aware of computers that are old. The FM Group is generally anxious to help keep computers current, within the constraints of their budget. They have had to stretch out the replacement cycle at times, but the replacements do happen.

The replacement process works best if the FM Group has plenty of notice. Note that the policy states: "The stake physical facilities representative works with the FM group during the fourth year of the computer’s life so that funds from the annual plan can be requested in order to replace the CPU during the fifth year." The FM Group can only do that planning (even if the computers are into their 7th or 8th year) if they receive clear communication regarding the age and status of the computers in your stake.

[johnshaw]

I can't stress aebrown's point enough, when I was called as the stake clerk, it took me months to work with our FM group. Our original problem stemmed from the fact that the stake purchased admin computers about 8 or 9 years ago, and were not really on anyones radar. Our current FM group had never budgeted to replace computers in their entire FM scope of responsibility for any stakes. It wasn't that hard to pull out a couple of policies, sit down with them and examine the process. I had a bunch of push back until I pointed out that I wasn't trying to get the computers all replaced right now, only that I wanted to make sure we were budgeting for replacement next year. Once that was understood by our FM things went very smoothly for me, in fact, all 14 of the computers got replaced immediately. But up until then, NOBODY had communicated with the FM group about upgrading them.

[russellhltn]

The 5 year replacement cycle is noted in the policy document, but it is more like a guideline, and is subject to FM Group budgets.

When the policy first came out, a large number of machines in our area were replaced because they no longer met the minimum standard. As a result, all of them came up for replacement 5 years later during a major a major economic downturn. As I understand it, FM groups were encouraged to extend the cycle in part to smooth out the replacement cycle.

And do find out when their budgeting process is so you can remind them to add new machines to the budget.