So many labs: so little time

This paper is intended for academic desktop support groups who have a large or growing number of computer labs and limited staffing resources in which to maintain them.Information Technology (IT) support groups are aware that in order to meet the needs of faculty and students who use the university's computer labs, it is imperative to provide up-to-date equipment and software. As the number of supported computer labs and multimedia rooms grow, the quality of the support may suffer due to the lack of staff needed to properly maintain the equipment. Needed patches, updates and virus definitions can be neglected due to lack of time and resources. Printer, scanner and projector maintenance can also suffer. The Desktop Technical Services department at Webster University had growing concerns that our high standards for quality might not be met as the number of labs continued to grow.In this paper we will describe many of the challenges faced as the desktop support needs of the labs exceeded available resources. We will present examples of obstacles common to other desktop support groups in an academic setting, and will describe the ideas and revised procedures that were put into action. We will outline which changes were deemed as successes and which were not.We will also provide tips, resources and modifications to help others who face the same challenges and obstacles involved with maintaining multiple labs.