Server and Large Equipment Purchase Guidelines & Procedures

Server and Large Equipment Purchase Guidelines & Procedures

All servers and large equipment over $100,000 bought by CSAIL PIs require space and maintenance by  TIG. TIG needs to be made aware of any server or equipment over $100,000 purchasing plans before a purchase is made.

Before placing an order in the Coupa B2P P.O. system, PI’s/research personnel and their AA’s should:

  • Visit CSAIL/TIG Server info landing page: https://tig.csail.mit.edu/hardware/new-server-best-practice/
  • Have a knowledgeable person in the group, most likely a grad student, reach out to TIG to make sure there is enough space, power and cooling for the machines the PIs and their teams need to purchase. This communication should include some basic information such as:
  1. What location is the server or equipment intended for: MGHPCC, CSAIL shared server room, or general lab space?
  2. Is the server or equipment is a new installation, or replacing existing equipment?
  • Check with assigned FO/Fiscal to confirm whether servers or equipment can be purchased on a specific award (allowability, allocability and reasonableness).
  • The Coupa B2P P.O. system requires the use of a selection of source form for equipment >$10,000, which provides the approval chain with the business justification in the B2P system for each web requisition, addressing the following points: cost and benefit analysis for the purchase/project.
  • TIG’s approval and recommendation could also be attached to a requisition.

When an order is placed for any servers or equipment over $100,000, the following information should be provided and steps followed:

  1. Obtain PI’s request and approval along with the business justification (attach in the system, e.g., an e-mail)
  2. Add Steven Ruggeiro, by name (system required field), as the first approver in the requisition approval chain for all server and large equipment requests.
  3. The next approver in the chain will be the assigned research group FO, or delegate. This step confirms sufficient funding. All placed requisitions should be reviewed and approved by the Fiscal team. If any of the required documentation or steps are missed, a requisition must be returned/rejected in the system by Fiscal for correction and re-submission, providing comments and guidance on missing information.
  4. The final approval step in the chain is by MIT Procurement, which validates correctness/sufficiency of documentation per MIT guidelines.
  5. Once a server or equipment is ordered, approved, delivered and shown to be in good working order, the AA who placed the order, should reach out to FAII/Fiscal to confirm the receipt of the purchase and indicate that it is OK TO PAY the P.O. invoice.

Created: 9.27.23                       Revised: 4.11.24