As always, please bear with the lengthy and likely extraneous explanation:
We are noticing a trend among staff requesting laptops with external monitors for use as their primary computer versus the standard desktop. They are attending more meetings and instead of taking notes and transcribing them when they get back to their offices, they want to be able to type everything then and there. We don't have a budget for letting them have both a desktop and a laptop, but understand the need that the laptop would fulfill. My thoughts stray to the "good old days" of docking stations. I forgot the Apple laptop that had that available. So I guess this is really something whose time has finally come for us. However, I know that there are a LOT of things to consider like from a security standpoint, liability issues, insurance etc. I've listed the kinds of questions I'm wrestling with (and if anyone has other things I need to think about, please do mention them if I haven't considered them or have forgotten to mention them here) and I want to tap anyone who might have already gone through this kind of process and what steps did you take to ensure some of the "dangerous ground" that we'll be treading. I have considered some of the security issues such as logging into the computer both when turning on the computer as well as when it sleeps, locking them away in locked drawers or locked offices when leaving the office or use a cable lock to secure them to the desks, creating an admin account for me as IT (to control installs etc.), a standard login for the user (we already do this with the desktops to meet campus security standards), and considering the potential for someone taking the laptop home and needing VPN to access online services, Here are questions I don't have an answer to and would love to have some guidance on. Have any of you or does campus have liability document that the user has to sign for situations of loss, destruction or theft? Should we insure these laptops for replacement in case of loss, destruction or theft? Is there a way to implement Find My Mac (forgot to mention that they will be Macbook Pros) on the laptops to track lost laptops and erase data remotely? If so, would I have to use my personal Apple ID account or can I create a "departmental" one with an iCloud account that would give me this ability? This is a really big step and I want to make sure I cover all of the specific pitfalls and security measures for going this route and I realize that I'm probably not thinking about how to cover every consequence. Any help or suggestions are welcome and as always appreciated. Beth -- *********************************************** Beth Muramoto Computer Resource Specialist Graduate School of Education University of California, Berkeley 1650 Tolman Hall Berkeley, CA 94720 Email: mailto:[email protected] Phone: (510) 643-0203 Fax: (510) 643-6239 “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities have crept in – forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” -Emerson This is the essence of forgiveness. You can't change what happened but you can make sure it doesn't have the power to prevent you from being happy tomorrow. -Paul Boese “Kind words do not cost much yet they accomplish much.” -Blaise Pascal ***********************************************
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