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Explanation. The SSSD will partner with the FPAC Business Center Information Solutions Division to collect and track the IT investment data for workstation and nonworkstation/other IT. This national bulletin is focused on workstation purchases. Guidelines for nonworkstation purchases will follow in a subsequent national bulletin.
The FPAC Business Center has provided a baseline estimate for ordering your workstations in FY 2021 and placed it in a Microsoft Teams channel by region. The assistant State conservationists for M&S (ATSCMs) and National Headquarters (NHQ) chiefs of staff are initially assigned as the points of contact (POCs) and will be added to their respective channels. A notification from Teams when the data is ready to be reviewed will follow this bulletin. POCs will coordinate the review of the refresh data and make necessary corrections in the channel.
Once the spreadsheet can be viewed, the POC will conduct:
1. Data Clean Up.—NRCS is charged for all computer units that are assigned to someone. Review the attached user data and make notes directly in Teams channel post regarding machines that do not need to be replaced and machines needed but not currently in the data. Reasons may include temporary or retired employee no longer working in NRCS, a person with multiple machines assigned to them, new hire, etc.
2. Machine Type Assessment.—The type of machines requested must match the job assignments (i.e., a high-end device is assigned only to those whose duties require it). The machine each person is to receive, and the cost, is listed in the data. Consider replacing desktops with laptops to accommodate teleworking. Personnel requiring more than one machine assigned should be kept to a minimum. High-performance machines should be limited to GIS specialists only, and no one person should have more than one high-performance machine. The option to remote into a high-performance machine from a standard machine should be utilized.
3. FY 2021 Workstation Refresh Estimate.—Your Teams channel post will contain your allocation for last year and the FPAC Business Center estimate for this year. In the post section of Teams, annotate the amount you estimate after completing the analysis in steps 1 and 2 above.
Note: This estimate should only include the purchase of computers. All other accessories fall under the forthcoming nonworkstation IT data call.
4. Spending caps will be established for the organizational units to ensure agency budgetary caps are adhered to once the data is collected and analyzed using the fund codes from the initial allocation letter. NHQ will create reports of actual spending throughout the remainder of the fiscal year using these codes.
Reminder. A national bulletin will follow for the nonworkstation/other IT orders with guidelines for how to track them. Requests for workstations that fall outside the timeline of this data call should be submitted through your regular IT ticket system for single machines, and to the FPAC Business Center for bulk buy orders at FPAC.AssetManagement@usda.gov.
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