enforcing the 5-year replacement policy

Discussions around the setup, operation, replacement, and disposal of clerk computers, not to include using MLS
dwsmith2
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enforcing the 5-year replacement policy

#1

Post by dwsmith2 »

During the "Meetinghouse Technologies" presentation at the LDSTech conference, it was mentioned that the Church was going to start enforcing the 5-year replacement policy for all Church computers. I wanted to double check and make sure I heard right, because I would like to add that to the wiki about clerk computer hardware.
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aebrown
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#2

Post by aebrown »

That would be a significant change. Up to now, the five year figure has been more like a guideline, subject to FM group budgets. I don't see how it could be "enforced" unless the funding mechanism is changed.
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lajackson
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#3

Post by lajackson »

dwsmith2 wrote:During the "Meetinghouse Technologies" presentation at the LDSTech conference, it was mentioned that the Church was going to start enforcing the 5-year replacement policy for all Church computers.

As our FM group is fond of saying, the Church may "enforce" anything it wishes, as long as they send money.

It is my understanding that FM groups are supposed to budget for replacement of administrative computers at 5 years. The first round schedule changed when there was a significant cut in their budget. Our FM group chose to spread the replacement out to take place at 6 to 8 years. Even so, in our stake they managed to replace all of the computers by the end of the 7th year.

I am sure they are trying to get back to the 5 year replacement cycle as they have been instructed. But their budget, I suspect, is a lot like our stake budget. There is not enough to do everything we would like to do.
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rbeede
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#4

Post by rbeede »

The current official policy (http://tech.lds.org/wiki/images/a/aa/Po ... eeping.pdf) states the following:
Each record-keeping computer’s central
processing unit (CPU) is normally replaced on a
five-year cycle.
So the normal cycle is 5-years, but to save money the area office may extend that out. For your basic record keeping you don't need that much anyway so older hardware works just a little slower. No point in spending tithing funds if the equipment is still working. It would still be a good idea to have the FM group request budget for possible replacement or repair of any computer older than 3 years or out of warranty. You never know when they might break.
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pete.arnett
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#5

Post by pete.arnett »

See if you can find the "five year" MLS desktop and laser printer guidelines for replacement from Church headquarters, because FM Groups say that the "Policies and Guidelines for Computers Used by Clerks" dated August 18, 2009, has been changed

It appears that headquarters uses the "five year" MLS desktop and laser printer replacement plan for budgeting purposes only

We still see the "use it until it fails" replacement policy in use for MLS desktops and laser printers

Note: FHC has separate guidelines

Research Results:
Facilities Management Guidelines for Meetinghouses and Other Church Property
© 2000, 2011 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. English approval: 11/09 08636
Computers
See Handbook 2: Administering the Church (2010), 21.1.11

Handbook 2: Administering the Church 21.1.11
Computers
As authorized by the Church’s presiding councils, some Church units are provided computers for purposes such as record keeping and family history. The stake president oversees the placement and use of computers in the stake. Guidelines for obtaining and managing Church computers are available from Church headquarters or the assigned administrative office. These guidelines provide information about matters such as hardware and software, donated computers, Internet connections, repairs, disposal of computers, stolen or damaged computers, security, and use by members.
Thanks,
:cool:Your Fellow Member,
Pete Arnett
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dwsmith2
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#6

Post by dwsmith2 »

pete.arnett wrote:See if you can find the "five year" MLS desktop and laser printer guidelines for replacement from Church headquarters, because FM Groups say that the "Policies and Guidelines for Computers Used by Clerks" dated August 18, 2009, has been changed
Since the August 18, 2009, guidelines were only sent to general priesthood leaders and stake and ward priesthood leaders, does anyone know if that group has received the updated copy?

And by the way, Brian ?Fromm? was the one who mentioned the 5-year policy thing. Does anyone know how I can contact him so I can clarify what he said?
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aebrown
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#7

Post by aebrown »

dwsmith2 wrote:
pete.arnett wrote:See if you can find the "five year" MLS desktop and laser printer guidelines for replacement from Church headquarters, because FM Groups say that the "Policies and Guidelines for Computers Used by Clerks" dated August 18, 2009, has been changed
Since the August 18, 2009, guidelines were only sent to general priesthood leaders and stake and ward priesthood leaders, does anyone know if that group has received the updated copy?

That claim by pete.arnett is not backed up by any actual documented change in policy, despite what he may have heard from his local FM group. The 2009 policy is still the official policy, since it has not been replaced.
dwsmith2 wrote:And by the way, Brian ?Fromm? was the one who mentioned the 5-year policy thing. Does anyone know how I can contact him so I can clarify what he said?
You can send a private message on this forum to user bfromm.
Questions that can benefit the larger community should be asked in a public forum, not a private message.
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rbeede
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#8

Post by rbeede »

Also the official policy says "normally" so 5-years isn't set in stone. If the area office decides that for budget purposes they wish to save tithing money by continuing to use functioning computers then there is no need to replace anything 5 years or older.

I would however have the FM group's budget include the assumption that X out of Y total computers out of warranty are expected to fail for the next year and will need possible replacement. I'd even make that number as high as 1/2 of all computers out of warranty. If less than that fail and don't need replacement then great the extra budget funds can be returned for next year :)
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#9

Post by sammythesm »

I don't see why they don't budget and fund this at CHQ's level. If they know they want a 5 year rotation, it would make more sense to do it and track it centrally rather than through the local FM. It certainly reduces support cost to know exactly what computers, software, and operating systems aren't deployed anymore and to actively phase them out when necessary. Hopefully the new PM over the Clerk computer will bring some thought/discipline to this. Sounds like they are finally serious about getting a real inventory of systems - which is a good first step.

(I recently had my own rant on the local FM funding model here)
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#10

Post by russellhltn »

It's worth keeping in mind the history of this. The church came out with the 5-year replacement policy at the same time as new, higher specs for the MLS computer. I'm sure as a result many units did what I did - order new computers. In my case, not one single computer met the new specifications, so I ordered 9 new computers.

Fast forward 5 years when all those computers come due for replacement: The world is in a major economic problem. No doubt that affected the amount of tithing the church received. The FM groups where asked to spread things out.

Now that the replacement cycle is spread out, the 5-year cycle will be much smoother from a financial view.
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