CSDS Desktop Services Printer Support Standards


Date Issued: March 23, 2011
Date Last Revised: July 18, 2024

STATEMENT OF STANDARD

The CSDS role is to facilitate the procurement process, install drivers, and maintain the network print service and network connection. CSDS will not physically repair any printer. CSDS will assist the department engaging prequalified vendors for hardware repair issues.

REASON FOR STANDARD

The intent of the CSDS printer support standard is to provide cost effective procurement, efficient support and reliable use for supported department’s printing needs. Industry accepted best practices along with the University’s Strategic Sourcing Initiative and Purdue’s IT plan have been considered in the preparation of this standard.

CONTACTS

To request more information on CSDS Printer Support Standards, please contact your Technical Coordinator/DCL. If you wish to initiate a request for an equipment purchase or need assistance with financial decisions related to a move, please contact your business office to find the appropriate contact person within your department.

DEFINITIONS

  • Departmental Printer Contact: Person located within a department or area responsible for assisting CSDS with print management and basic remote troubleshooting of the printer. This person may or may not be the Department Technical Coordinator.
  • Departmental Authorized Person: Persons with financial authority for costs related to printers.
  • Departmental Technical Coordinator: Person who is the liaison between a department and CSDS. Provide routine interactions between the two areas and ensures an open line of communication, which leads to accurate, timely technological support.
  • Multifunction Printer: Any networked printing device having functions other than standard printing. This includes copy, fax, staple, and other functions not standard on a network laser printer.
  • Network Printer: Any printing device connected to a data connection (PIC) for purposes of shared printing.
  • Local Printer: Any printing device that is not attached to a data connection (PIC) and is connected directly to a computer.

PROCUREMENT

In order to match the Department’s budget and business printing needs with the appropriate printer purchase, a pre-purchase consultation is required. Depending on the department’s size or complexity of needs, the consultation may include a strategic sourcing vendor representative, CSDS staff member, and departmental representative as outlined by Purchasing and the Strategic Sourcing Initiative. In the cases where requirements are more routine and easily understood, CSDS staff can conduct the consultation with the departmental representative and include Purchasing when the order is ready to be processed. Direct vendor involvement would not be required unless questions can’t be answered by CSDS or Purchasing staff. Departments may not purchase printers outside of this process without Purchasing’s approval. All new printer purchases should be coordinated with CSDS.

Every make and model of network, local and multifunction printers utilize separate software drivers to function. Minimizing the number of installed and supported drivers will help ensure a stable computing and printing environment. To facilitate a more stable and secure environment, and faster installation times, CSDS supports HP and Toshiba printers exclusively which have been proven to be stable in our environment and are recommended by strategic sourcing vendors.

Cannon IV of Indianapolis a Purdue strategic sourcing vendor providing HP and Toshiba printers and is the CSDS preferred vendor for procurement and repair.

REPAIR

CSDS is not certified to repair printers. All printer repairs will be coordinated with the department through the prequalified strategic sourcing vendor. The preferred prequalified strategic sourcing vendor is Cannon IV of Indianapolis. CSDS will assist with initiating vendor repair service calls. All hardware repair costs will be the responsibility of the department.

SECURITY

CSDS performs routine vulnerability scanning to identify exposures to systems on Purdue subnets. Any printer that indicates a high vulnerability is required to be updated immediately. Responsibility for updating printers which report high vulnerability falls to CSDS.

LOCAL/REMOTE PRINTERS

Purdue’s Strategic Sourcing Initiative promotes the use of on campus departmental multifunction printers whenever possible; therefore CSDS discourages local/remote (i.e.desktop) printers due to the higher total cost. Departmental printers that are networked provide additional security over local/remote printers.

Remote home printing will only be supported upon approval by a unit Dean/Department Head. With the availability of PDF creation, DocuSign for signature/approval services, and the ability to map a printer on campus for business-related needs, the purchase of a new or the support of a personal printer shall be treated as an exception and will be limited to a HP E40040dn Monochrome Printer model.

RETIREMENT OF PRINTERS

CSDS will assist in the retirement of any printer to ensure the hard drive is destroyed per the Purdue data handling policy. The department’s Technology Coordinator or Printer Contact should contact CSDS when considering removing a supported printer from service. After hard drives are destroyed, CSDS will help facilitate the process for sending retired printers to Purdue Surplus and Salvage for disposal.

DEPARTMENTAL PRINTER CONTACT ROLE

  • Supported departments will designate a Printer Contact whose responsibilities are to:
  • Assist with initial remote printer troubleshooting to resolve minor printer issues more quickly. (i.e. paper jams, change toner cartridges, clear print queues)
  • Initiate requests to CSDS to resolve printer issues that are related to network connectivity, print queues, or print drivers.
  • Inform Departmental Authorized Person when a vendor repair is required.
  • Configure and maintain multifunction printer device settings (i.e. Contact List and advance functionality management)
  • Coordinate the Printer Contact, CSDS representative, and vendor to work in a cooperative and collaborative manner to initially setup and resolve problems with printer configurations.

DEPARTMENTAL AUTHORIZED PERSON ROLE

  • The Departmental Authorized Person’s responsibilities are to:
  • Assist with determining the business need and appropriate device for new printers in cooperation with the strategic sourcing vendor and CSDS staff member.
  • Approve service calls to Cannon IV for all repairs ensuring funding availability in the event costs are incurred.
  • Initiate requests to CSDS for printer installation on computers.
  • Initiate requests with Cannon IV for network printer moves.

CSDS ROLE

The CSDS organization’s responsibilities are to:

  • Assist with determining the business need and appropriate device for new printers in cooperation with the strategic sourcing vendor and the Departmental Authorized Person.
  • Order all new printers.
  • Test, label and install new printers.
  • Arrange initial connectivity to the Purdue network (PIC, IP address).
  • Make printer drivers available for zero touch installation when possible.
  • Troubleshoot and resolve printing issues related to connectivity and drivers.
  • Manage the installation of print drivers on requested machines in cooperation with the ITSO system administrators.
  • All workstation configurations must be performed by CSDS. The vendor is not permitted to make unapproved changes to CSDS supported computers.

STRATEGIC SOURCING HP AND TOSHIBA SUPPORTED PRINTER MODELS

Exact models and pricing of HP and Toshiba printers will be made available during the prepurchase consultation with a strategic sourcing vendor representative, CSDS staff member, and departmental representative.
In general, network printers fall into the following categories. The outcome of the consultation will determine the right-sized printer.

  • Black and White Multi-Function
  • Color Multi-Function
  • Black and White Printer
  • Color Printer

LEGACY PRINTER MODELS

It is understood that a variety of legacy printer models are currently installed throughout CSDS supported departments. CSDS will support these printers to the extent possible. At end-of-life, if replaced, supported models will be purchased unless special business needs dictate non-standard device.

PERSONALLY OWNED PRINTERS

Only Purdue owned printers will be installed and supported on CSDS supported machines; thus, as with other peripheral devices, printers purchased with personal funds will not be installed or supported.

PRINTERS LOCATED OFF CAMPUS

CSDS will not travel to locations other than Purdue University’s West Lafayette campus to work on equipment. In the case of University-owned equipment in an individual’s home, the expectation is that the equipment will be brought to the user’s campus office to be worked on during normal business hours.