Procurement

IT Product/Solution Review

Michigan State University is committed to providing an accessible, secure, usable, and integrated user experience. When purchasing Information Technology (IT), units should understand the impact these purchases have on individuals with disabilities in and outside the university.
Overhead view of a group of co-workers reading and exchanging documents.

Definition

Information Technology (IT) refers to any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment that is used in the creation, conversion, or duplication of data or information. 

IT includes, but is not limited to:

  • telecommunications products
  • information kiosks and transaction machines
  • Internet and Intranet websites
  • web-delivered content
  • software
  • electronic books and electronic book reading systems
  • search engines and databases
  • multimedia
  • classroom technology
  • office equipment
  • computers, laptops, and tablets

Purchasing IT

MSU IT has created an Approved Software List, which allows employees to purchase select software without the submission of an IT Readiness form. The IT Readiness form must be submitted via purchase requisition for the following types of IT purchases:

  • Hardware
  • Tier 1 software, if the cost is above the cardholder's single transaction purchase limit or if the software will process or store confidential information
  • Tier 2 software, if the cost is above the cardholder's single transaction purchase limit or the user type/use case isn't met
  • Tier 3 software, even if it is free software

Note: Purchases made through the MSU Tech Store do not require an IT Readiness form.