Purchasing Hardware and Software

Hardware Purchasing

• Purchase Hardware Devices
• Sep 29, 2023

Purpose

Collectively streamline the procurement process, minimize potential pitfalls, and make well-informed choices that will positively benefit workflow at AdvaCare. At the same time, providing comprehensive guidance to the members, empowering them with the necessary knowledge and processes to efficiently navigate the procurement of hardware resources.

Scope

• Handling purchasing Hardware and Software items
• Including portability and compatibility in Desktop and Mobile platforms, and OS.
• Cover requests from China and India Company offices

Procedure

1. Types of Hardware

Based on current Company needs, IT Department handles the following hardware types:

1.1 Equipment (this includes computers and peripherals)

• Desktop-PC
• Laptop-PC
• Keyboard
• Monitor
• Mouse
• RAM-Card
• SSD-Drive
• Video-Card

1.2 Accessories

• Cable
• Printer

2. Identifying acquisition needs

The IT member identifies there is a need for acquisition of a new hardware from different reasons:

• Equipment is damaged, not feasible for repairing and/or even out-of-stock from the IT Hardware Inventory of electronic equipment.
• Upgrade product versions, different/new technologies, higher technical specifications required and more.

3. Hardware price ranges (pre-approved budget)

The following prices for the most common equipment in AdvaCare have been pre-approved in order to move on smoothly with the acquisition hardware process, and avoiding repetitive budget approval requests with the Accounting Department. The price ranges are approved for purchasing hardware in China and India.

N	Item	Price range (China RMB)	Price range (India INR)
1	Desktop computer	2.000元 - 3.500元	₹12.000 - ₹50.000
2	Laptop computer	3.000元 - 4.000元	₹28.000 - ₹42.000
3	Keyboard	15元 - 90元	₹200 - ₹1.040
4	Monitor	450元 - 550元	₹6.000 - ₹9.000
5	Mouse	15元 - 40元	₹100 - ₹300
6	8 GB DDR3 RAM card	200元 - 300元	₹600 - ₹1.300
7	8 GB DDR4 RAM card	100元 - 200元	₹1.000 - ₹1.900
8	16 GB DDR3 RAM card	50元 - 150元	₹2.000 - ₹3.000
9	16 GB DDR4 RAM card	600元 - 700元	₹2.400 - ₹3.700
10	Solid State Drive 480 GB (SSD)	200元 - 300元	₹2.000 - ₹2.300
11	Entry level Graphics Card	500元 - 700元	₹1.700 - ₹3.300
12	Mid-range Graphics Card	2.000元 - 3.500元	₹13.200 - ₹20.000
13	50 meter RJ45 CAT 6 Ethernet cable	50元 - 150元	₹400 - ₹990

Note-1: prices are referential values, and were collected according to the current market prices at June, 2023 and following historical data of past products orders (JD, Taobao, Others [in China] and Amazon [in India]) .

Note-2: getting equipment with special prices/offers (usually cheaper prices than mentioned in the list above), can be considered as a pre-approved budget too, as soon as the technical specifications of the hardware, supplier source or reliability, and other important aspects of the hardware and the process, meet the expected needs.

4. Ordering hardware procedure

4.1 Computers acquisition

Follow the steps mentioned below:

4.2. Peripherals and Accessories acquisition

To purchase a peripherals and accessories, the process and requests must be made through Odoo ERP using a task and identifying the need that equipment is required by the IT Operations Supervisor, and similarly involving the Administrative Specialist and Accounting Specialist, accordingly.

So to recap, the steps to follow for purchasing peripherals and accessories are pretty similar to those applied for the acquisition of computers (refer to 4.1 Computers acquisition).

5. Hardware Registration

After the hardware has been received, the new equipment must be registered in the IT Hardware Inventory file including the technical information of the hardware, accordingly.

Software Purchasing

• Purchase Software Applications
• Sep 29, 2023

Purpose

Collectively streamline the procurement process, minimize potential pitfalls, and make well-informed choices that will positively benefit workflow at AdvaCare. At the same time, providing comprehensive guidance to the members, empowering them with the necessary knowledge and processes to efficiently navigate the procurement of software resources.

Scope

• Handling purchasing Software items
• Including portability and compatibility in Desktop and Mobile platforms, and OS.
• Cover requests from China and India Company offices

Procedure

1. Type of Software

Based on current Company needs, IT Department handles the following software types:

1.1 Applications (this includes productivity and collaborative programs)

• 3D Modeling Software
• 3D Rendering Software
• Cloud Storage and File Sharing Service
• Document Scanning and Management Software
• File Compression Software
• Graphic Design Software
• Instant Messaging Software
• Input Method Editor (IME)
• Messaging and Social Media App
• Messaging App
• PDF Reader Software
• Productivity Software Suite
• Proxy Server Software
• Remote Desktop Software
• System Utility Software
• VPN Software
• VoIP and Video Calling Software
• Web Browser

1.2 Systems

• Operating systems

2. Identifying acquisition needs

The IT member identifies there is a need for acquisition of a new software from different reasons:

• Software is new in our list of assets in the IT Software Inventory of digital programs.
• Upgrade product versions, different/new technologies, higher technical specifications required and more.

3. Software price ranges (pre-approved budget)

The following prices for the most common programs in AdvaCare have been pre-approved in order to move on smoothly with the acquisition software process, and avoiding repetitive budget approval requests with the Accounting Department. The price ranges are approved for purchasing software in China and India.

N	Item	Price range (China RMB)	Price range (India INR)
1	Adobe Creative Cloud	50元 - 100元	26.000₹ - 56.000₹
2	Corel Draw	1元 -16 元	1₹ - 182₹
3	KeyShot	1元 - 10元	1₹ - 115₹
4	Microsoft Office	1元 - 180元	1₹ - 2.050₹
5	Rhinoceros	1元 - 5元	1₹ - 58₹

Note-1: prices are referential values, and were collected according to the current market prices at June, 2023 and following historical data of past product orders (JD, Taobao, Others [in China] and Amazon [in India]) .

Note-2: getting programs with special prices/offers (usually cheaper prices than mentioned in the list above), can be considered as a pre-approved budget too, as soon as the technical specifications of the program, supplier source or reliability, and other important aspects of the software and the process, meet the expected needs.

4. Ordering software procedure

4.1 Applications acquisition

Follow the steps mentioned below:

1. IT Operations Supervisor researches for possible options of programs/applications and reliable vendors from different e-commerce platforms (e.g. Taobao, JD, even Amazon, according to the office branch China or India). Then would send an Odoo task to the Administrative Specialist with all the information related to the software to request the purchase.

Note 1: strongly consider that the software meets the technical expected needs, and are under the pre-approved budget (refer to Software price ranges section for more details).

Note 2: In case the item has not been previously pre-approved, the IT Operations Supervisor must request the approval of the HR Manager and the IT Manager through a comment in the task where the purchase of the item is requested.

2. IT Operations Supervisor notifies the Administrative Specialist requesting the acquisition of the program, and providing all the information to proceed with the purchasing process. This request can be performed via sending a message in a task.
3. Administrative Specialist requests a budget transfer to the Accounting Specialist as a next step of the acquisition process. After the budget transfer and software order have been completed, a message via task mainly to the IT Operations Supervisor confirming that the purchasing has been done successfully is required.

Note: after software is purchased, the product delivery is commonly immediate.

4. Once the product is delivered, Administrative Specialist notifies one more time directly to the IT Operations Supervisor. It’s highly requested to notify the related people on the right way at the right time, a message via task.
5. IT Operations Supervisor checks and confirms that the acquitted software has been confirmed, via a task message to the IT Manager. At this point, the related task can be marked as done either by the IT Manager and/or IT Operations Supervisor.

Note: an update in the IT Software Inventory must be performed, usually when it’s a new type of software asset entry.

Considerations:

In the AdvaCare India branch, the roles of Administrative Specialist and Accounting Specialist (from the AdvaCare China branch) are covered by a unique role: India Procurement Specialist.

4.2. Systems acquisition

To purchase systems programs, the process and requests must be made through Odoo ERP using a task and identifying the need that program is required by the IT Operations Supervisor, and similarly involving the Administrative Specialist and the Accounting Specialist, accordingly.

So to recap, the steps to follow for purchasing systems programs are pretty similar to those applied for the acquisition of applications programs (refer to 4.1 Applications acquisition).

5. Software Registration

After the software has been received, the new software must be registered in the IT Software Inventory file including the information of the software (versioning, compatibility, platform, and more details) and its purpose, accordingly.