Personal Digital Assistant / Personal Information Manager (PDA/PIM) Devices (New) - IT Policies and Standards


Information Technology Policies and Standards Comment on this Policy
Title	Personal Digital Assistant / Personal Information Manager (PDA/PIM) Devices (New)
Type	Policy
Category	Hardware/Software
Status	Withdrawn
Scope	Applies to City-purchased Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and Personal Information Manager (PIM) devices. This policy does not apply to handheld devices procured and used for Departmental "line-of-business" (e.g., field service) applications. Departmental LOB devices will be supported by the Department. Personally owned devices are not supported and may not be used on the City's infrastructure. This policy replaces and supersedes the following policies: Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and Handheld Devices Policy; November 12, 2003 Wireless PIM/PDA Policy; January 12, 2005 DEFINITIONS (from Wikipedia): Personal digital assistants (also called PDAs) are handheld devices that were originally designed as personal organizers, but became much more versatile over the years. A basic PDA usually includes date book, address book, task list, memo pad, clock, and calculator software. Newer PDAs also have both color screens and audio capabilities, enabling them to be used as mobile phones, web browsers or media players. Many PDAs can access the Internet, intranets or extranets via Wi-Fi, or Wireless Wide-Area Networks (WWANs). A personal information manager (PIM) is a type of application software that functions as a personal organizer. As an information management tool, a PIM's purpose is to facilitate the recording, tracking, and management of certain types of "personal information". Personal information can include any of the following: personal notes/journal address books lists (including task lists) significant calendar dates birthdays anniversaries appointments e-mail fax communications project management features RSS/Atom feeds Some PIM software products are capable of synchronizing data with another PIM over a computer network (including mobile ad-hoc networks, or MANETs). This feature usually does not allow for continuous, concurrent data updates, but rather enables point-in-time updating between different computers, including desktop computers, laptop computers, and personal digital assistants.
Policy	Personal Digital Assistant or Personal Information Manager devices will be issued to City employees as recommended by their Department Director and approved by the Chief Administrative Officer pursuant to existing City policies, standards and procedures. Only devices which are approved for City business use may be purchased. Approved devices shall be published in a standard. Departments purchasing PDA/PIM devices will bear all expenses for supporting their devices. The Information Systems Division (ISD) will coordinate support activities (i.e., 3rd party), monitor total cost of ownership, and will be responsible for supporting the "back-end" infrastructure. All requests for support shall be initiated through the ISD Help Desk.
Rationale	Implementing and supporting PDA and PIM devices tends to be a very labor-intensive activity that challenges the overall return on investment (ROI) and total cost of ownership (TCO) of these devices.

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