Submitted by Derek Milberg
The WashU IT Depot was created in the summer of 2016 to provide product standards, bulk discounts, and quote services for Desktop equipment to our customers migrating into WashU IT. Since then, its footprint has steadily grown across the university.
Services Provided:
- Stock Equipment Ordering & Fulfillment
- Custom Equipment Quoting, Ordering & Fulfillment
- Loaner Laptops
- Disposal Services
- Software Purchasing Requests (outside of Software Licensing)
Why Choose the Depot?
- Dell primary devices ordered through the Depot typically receive a 20-25% discount compared to the Marketplace price.
- Depot Standards are typically in stock at all times.
- COVID and worldwide supply chain issues have made this a significant challenge that we are constantly working through.
- Our techs ensure that all equipment ordered complies with WashU security requirements and is fully supported by WashU IT.
Response to COVID:
- 1,938 devices deployed in March 2020, including 150 loaner laptops.
- $1.3 million in stock equipment was purchased in March 2020 to assist departments with transitioning to Work From Home.
- The front desk pickup/drop-off area at 4480 was created and is still operational.
- UPS Ground shipments made available for users needing equipment shipped to/from their homes.
Response to Worldwide Supply Shortages;
- The team analyzes customer ordering trends to forecast stock equipment needs several months in advance to mitigate delays as much as possible.
- The team continuously negotiates with vendors to limit price increases and find opportunities for alternative products as needed.
- A Computer Equipment Fulfillment Delay page has been created for our customers to view the status of many popular stock items. This page is updated as new information is received.
Other Depot Happenings:
- A secondary Depot location at North Campus went live in July.
- This location’s objective is to increase overall fulfillment throughput, manage larger scale projects/refreshes and also provide additional storage space for stock equipment as needed.
- Supervisor Travis Witt was hired in July to lead this secondary location.
- The Depot collaborated with Student Technology Services, EUS Deskside Support, and SITS to temporarily increase staffing to assist with the high volume of requests.
By the Numbers
- University-wide, more than 80% of all orders to Dell go through the Depot.
- In Fiscal Year 2021, the Depot saved our customers approximately $2,700,033.79 in desktop equipment compared to Marketplace prices.
- Since the creation of the Depot in 2016, we have saved our customers an estimated total of $7,099,793.
- In Fiscal Year 2021, we deployed over 12,000 desktop items to customers.