Hardware and Software

What hardware and software is supported?

ITS sets yearly "standards" for supported hardware and software. Hardware standards are agreed upon by UNC Asheville and UNC General Administration as part of the Combined Pricing Initiative (CPI). CPI allows us to leverage the buying power of all the UNC institutions when purchasing desktop and laptop computers with specific configurations. Standard configurations are designed to cover 95% of the computing needs of the campus.

Software standards are based on business needs, vendor support, and licensing availability and/or restrictions. ITS has established campus-wide site licenses for very common software (Windows and MacOS operating systems, Microsoft Office, anti-virus software, etc.) and provides access to software available through UNC-GA system-wide site licenses (SAS). ITS also works with departments on campus to provide site licenses for specialized software which multiple disciplines use (ArcGIS, MiniTab). Whenever possible ITS will provide Open Source and/or free software analogous to each commercial software package available (OpenOffice, Firefox). 

What does "supported" mean?

"Supported" means that ITS will offer assistance installing, configuring, and troubleshooting a particular piece of hardware and/or software. Technical support is not training nor is it advice on application use. Technical support is assistance with computer hardware and/or software that is not functioning correctly. It is incumbent upon the individual to be knowledgeable about and familiar with the software they need to perform their job duties. Personal equipment will not be serviced by ITS.

Only computers, peripherals, and software appearing on the "standards" list and which are leased/purchased through ITS are supported. These standards are set to ensure stability and compatibility with the University computing environment. With the vast array of hardware and software options available supporting non-standard equipment and software is unsustainable and would be prohibitively expensive to the University.

Given the broad range of disciplines on campus there will be requests for hardware and/or software outside of ITS' standards. In the interest of facilitating the university's academic and administrative missions ITS will assist in the procurement of such hardware/software, but we cannot support it. Usually this type of hardware/software is extremely specialized and the requester is already very familiar with the products.