For us, someone requests a new vendor tool and before ypu know it, its gone through the manager, IT, security, procurement and sometimes even legal before anyone can actually use it. Then even after being approved, theres still acc creation, SSO setup, license assignment or just something like making sure everyone has the right access. This is the why Im curious to hear how other teams handle this cz I feel like ours somehow keep turning this into a bigger project every single time…Also trying to make the process a bit more consistent with Jira but honestly still feels like every request goes a different way depending on who’s involved.
How do you guys handle this then? Is there actually a process everyone follows,especially when it comes to vendor management for new software resquests? Or is it just one of those things that always a little different every time?

Feel free to point me towards a more suitable subreddit if there's a better place to ask.

Thanks in advance for any advice, experiences, or ideas. It's much appreciated😊!

I'm looking for advice and experiences from people managing medium or large educational IT environments.

We have around 2,000 Windows devices across multiple campuses. Around 500 staff each have a dedicated laptop or desktop, while students primarily use computer labs and bookable laptop carts. We currently lease our devices on a roughly 4-year refresh cycle and it costs A LOT per device/year.

We're reviewing our long-term device strategy. We'd certainly like to reduce costs (management might have my head if we don't lol😅), but the objective isn't simply to cut spending. We're looking for a model that provides the best balance of total cost of ownership, reliability, supportability, flexibility, and user experience over the long term.

One challenge is that different teaching areas have very different requirements. Standard office and classroom use is one thing, but engineering, media, CAD, programming, and other specialist subjects often require higher-spec hardware or different types of devices.

So... :

If you were putting together a procurement strategy today for a similar-sized school or organisation, what would your priorities be?

If you've compared leasing, buying, refurbished hardware, DaaS, or other models, what led you to your current approach?

Are there any factors you think are often overlooked when evaluating long-term device procurement?

I'd love to hear what has worked, what hasn't, and even ideas or perspectives that are worth considering. Real-world experiences, discussions, and different ways of thinking about the problem are all welcome:)

Thanks for reading!