Purchasing and inventory control
When I created the "Microcomputer Specialist" position with the West Haven VA Medical Center, I became responsible for not just supporting desktop computer use at the medical center, but for purchasing, setting up, delivering, troubleshooting, fixing, upgrading and tracking inventory of what was a rapidly growing area.
Hospital administrators, doctors, nurses, support staff were suddenly all discovering the value of having a PC available. The "dumb terminal" hooked into the hospital's mainframes were no long enough and it became my job to handle all requests for new PCs (both Windows and Mac), work with annual budgets, work with GSA (General Services Admin) approved vendors for hardware and software purchases, and keep track of everything that was coming in and being deployed throughout the medical center. I started with spreadsheets and databases to try to track it all, but eventually selected and implemented an inventory control software package to manage it all.
By the time I was tasked with working on the purchasing and deployment of standardized hardware and software for the entire New England region, I was comfortable with the responsibilities and tools at my disposal to handle it.
Hospital administrators, doctors, nurses, support staff were suddenly all discovering the value of having a PC available. The "dumb terminal" hooked into the hospital's mainframes were no long enough and it became my job to handle all requests for new PCs (both Windows and Mac), work with annual budgets, work with GSA (General Services Admin) approved vendors for hardware and software purchases, and keep track of everything that was coming in and being deployed throughout the medical center. I started with spreadsheets and databases to try to track it all, but eventually selected and implemented an inventory control software package to manage it all.
By the time I was tasked with working on the purchasing and deployment of standardized hardware and software for the entire New England region, I was comfortable with the responsibilities and tools at my disposal to handle it.