13 December 1999

PC Maintenance and other IT Support Services for Departments

The Computer Centre is offering a wide range of IT services for supporting the teaching, learning, research and administrative activities of the University. Besides the services provided through the centrally managed facilities, such the campus network infrastructure and the central host computer and server systems which are free to all staff and students, there has been an increasing number of requests from departments asking for other IT support services to meet their specific needs. The Computer Centre has introduced various cost-recovery services to meet the specific needs of the departments for achieving their goals. The various types of departmental IT support services available from the Computer Centre on a cost-recovery basis are offered as follows :

1. Computer Equipment Maintenance services

The Computer Centre has a strong team of technicians to provide fast-response to computer equipment maintenance requests on a variety of computer equipment such as PC's and peripheral products. Our technicians aim to arrive at your site (currently only in the university main campus) within 30-minutes of receiving the service request from you. By subscribing to our annual maintenance service which is very price competitve, you can greatly minimise the down time of your PCs when they crash or have problems to connect to the network.

In addition, the Computer Centre also coordinates for University departments to subscribe for maintenance of other popular microcomputer-related hardware items with external service vendors. These hardware items include HP printers, Apple and Macintosh systems and Epson products. Departments can gain the benefits of "one-stop" maintenance through the Computer Centre arrangement as well as the special discount available from the vendors through the bulk volume maintenance rates acquired by the Computer Centre.

2. Departmental Computer Technician Support

The Computer Centre also offers chargeable technical support services to departments in the form of allocating Computer Technicians to work with the departments directly on their IT support and service requirement. We offer flexible arrangement which can be full time, part time or even on an hourly basis. This "Computer Technician Support" service is particularly attractive to small departments which require regular but occasional staff support on departmental IT matters.

3. Programming Support for the Academic Departments

The Computer Centre provides professional programming support for departments to develop applications for facilitating their specific academic or administrative activities. Our staff will work out a plan with your department to implement the project and the manpower cost for development will be charged to the department on a project basis.

4. Installation and Relocation of Network Points and Network Installation for PC stations

To connect a PC to the campus network, you have to contact the Computer Centre to install a network point for your PC. Through a central allocation scheme, departments are provided with one network point for each Term-of-Service I staff. If a department requires to set up more network points or to relocate certain existing network points, the department will be charged on the cost incurred. The Computer Centre can also assist departments to set up network interface cards at cost and install the necessary software for their PC stations.

5. Sale of Computer Consumables

The Computer Centre offers a variety of computer consumables, such as toner cartridges, floppy diskettes, zip disks and CD-Rs, for sale to the staff and students of the University. These items are sold at cost so that you can gain both the benefits of paying better prices and saving your effort to go outside the campus to purchase those items.

6. Laser Printing Services

The Computer Centre provides laser printing services to students in the PC laboratories for both black and white and color printing. These printing services are charged at notional rate to recover the operational cost in maintaining the printing services. Students are urged to use the ESD (Electronic Service Delivery) approach for buying printing units with the use of electronic signatures for paying by credit card. A discount is available for ESD purchases - $24 for 100 units or $90 for 400 units. Purchase in person at the Computer Centre general office is charged at $30 for 100 units.

7. Software Site Licensing Arrangement

The Computer Centre coordinates site licensing programs for departments to acquire PC software in a cost-effective and easy-to-manage way. Software included in this program are Microsoft, SAS, SPSS, Corel, Norton AntiVirus & Ghost and RichWin products. The Computer Centre negotiates the best price on these software products for the University by consolidating the requirements from various departments and striking a bulk deal.

Following is a summary of the cost-recovery services, their charges and how to access them :

Services	Pricing Information Available at	How to Subscribe
*1. Maintenance services*	http://www.itservices.hku.hk/services/pricelis.htm	Fill in and return the form at http://www.itservices.hku.hkoffice/forms/cem-2.htm or call our General Office at 2859 2491.
*2. Computer Technical Support Services*	Hourly rate : HK$250	Use the HKU ESD System at https://hkuesd.hku.hk:8000/servlets/EService/loginESD to place an electronic CC Order Form for the required no. of hours or through the printed CC Order Form
	Part-time/Full-time : calculated at the University's staff cost of the Technician grade	Address a written request to the Director of Computer Centre stating the preferred arrangement
*3. Installation and Relocation of Network Points and Network Installation for PC stations*	http://www.itservices.hku.hkoffice/forms/cf-71a.htm	Fill in and return the form at http://www.itservices.hku.hkoffice/forms/cf-71.htm
*4. Programming Support for the Academic Departments*	Charge will be calculated according to the specific staff effort required for the project	Address a written request to the Director of Computer Centre stating the preferred arrangement
*5. Sale of Computer Consumables*	Browse the price list at http://hkusuc.hku.hk/cc/services/consumable_price_list.htm	Use the HKU ESD System at https://hkuesd.hku.hk:8000/servlets/EService/loginESD to place an electronic CC Order Form for the required items or through the printed CC Order Form
*6. Laser Printing Services*	$0.3 for one page of black & white print $3.0 for one page of color print	Print units are available for sales through : 1. HKU ESD System at https://hkuesd.hku.hk:8000/servlets/EService/loginESD 2. Self-service purchase systems at RR-104 & OLB-134 3. General Office at RR-223
*7. Software Site Licensing Arrangement*	Browse the price list at http://www.itservices.hku.hk/services/tender.htm and select the option “Software”	Use the HKU ESD System at https://hkuesd.hku.hk:8000/servlets/EService/loginESD to place an electronic CC Order Form for the required items or through the printed CC Order Form

Please note that all prices quoted above are applicable to internal projects and departments which are funded by UGC. For those outside projects or non-block grant activities or self-funding projects, the Computer Centre will apply an overhead charge on the services to be provided, including the overhead charges as required by the University.

If you are interested in any service not mentioned above, you are welcome to contact Mr. C. M. Mak, Manager of User Support Services at 2859 2491 or send email to cmmak@hku.hk.