06/15/2021 | News release | Distributed by Public on 06/15/2021 17:24
The Asset Management team is a trusted partner at the core of Seattle Information Technology (Seattle IT) operations. They assist in managing, tracking, and fulfilling all IT related goods in order for our staff to deploy and support technology operations. This includes device hardware and software, technology infrastructure, telecom, networking and server equipment, and mobile devices. Their services are critical to supply the equipment needed for all City departments to function. Seattle IT's Asset Management essential personnel have been working on site throughout the COVID pandemic and are dedicated to ensuring no disruption in service. Every day, the job of the Asset Management team is to make purchases and manage the most essential equipment to the City.
Below are highlights and stats from the team, along with features of some projects the team played a key role in supporting.
Highlights:
Activities:
Device support:
Lifecycle management:
The team was a critical partner in fulfilling the hardware used to stand up the Lumen Field vaccine site. The site is largest civil-led mass vaccination site in the country. In just six weeks the City of Seattle, in partnership with Swedish Hospital and First & Goal, Inc., transformed 190,000 square feet at Lumen Field Event Center into a massive immunization clinic that provided up to 22,000 vaccines a day, or 150,000 a week. The Asset Management team managed the lifecycle replacement of IT's standard computers, so that City employees had a healthy and functioning computing environment at the vaccination site. The team was also onsite during operating hours to ensure the technology worked for the medical staff. The Lumen Field vaccination clinic, and the work the city provided to residents, was praised nationally as a example of a city working to flatten the curve and keep everyone healthy.
But they've faced some challenges during the pandemic dealing with supply and demand constraints world wid. Last year at the height of the COVID pandemic, the team struggled with the availability of laptops, web cams and headsets, as everyone was competing to equip a teleworking workforce. This year, they are experiencing hardware supply issues caused by the worldwide shortage of semiconductors and chips. They manage these market constraints by planning and forecasting to accommodate shortages, looking for creative ways to re-allocate equipment to fill immediate needs, and also by maintaining and establishing good vendor relations to give as much forewarning as possible and offer alternative supply channels and products.