Start with the image and the purchase order rather than the delivery date, because those are the two dates the district controls. At Pace Systems we set up district rollouts of 1,300 to 1,600 laptops at a time in our lab in Naperville, which has more than 100 stations, and we can put more than 20 technicians in your schools in a day. How many weeks the whole job takes depends on three dates: the day your image is final, the day your purchase order goes out and the day the maker ships.
What happens to each laptop between the order and the classroom?
We take every laptop we set up through the same eight steps, in this order.
- Ordered: Your quote names the contract the laptops are bought on, and once you order, the Pace Hub shows the order as Not shipped yet, then Coming to Pace.
- Received: At our receiving desk, each serial number is recorded against your order, and the Hub changes to At Pace.
- Imaged: Each laptop gets your image at one of the lab’s more than 100 stations.
- Tagged: Your asset tag goes on it.
- Tested: We test it at the station before it leaves the lab.
- Registered: Its serial number goes into your equipment register in the Hub, so nobody in your district office has to type 1,500 serial numbers into a spreadsheet.
- Held: The finished laptops wait in our warehouse, tagged to your order, until the schools are ready for them.
- Delivered: Our trucks bring them to each school in the Chicago area, and our technicians can set them out where they go, while a district anywhere else in the United States gets them by carrier, set up and ready to use.
What sets the calendar for a summer rollout?
Three dates set it, and the district controls two of them.
The day the image is final. We load the image you give us, with your settings and your apps, and imaging can’t start until that image is final. That’s why we ask for the final version before the laptops reach our lab, and we recommend trying it on a few machines first.
The day the purchase order goes out. A district that buys on a cooperative contract such as TIPS or OMNIA Partners doesn’t have to run and award a bid first, so the purchase order can go out sooner. Can a city or school district buy IT without a bid? explains how that works in Illinois.
The day the maker ships. HP, Dell, Lenovo, Apple and Microsoft each set the ship date for their laptops, and until the laptops leave the manufacturer, the Hub shows the order as Not shipped yet. Once they are on the way, it shows Coming to Pace.
Count backward from the first day of school, because the laptops have to be imaged, tagged and delivered before teachers hand them out, and the image has to be ready before the laptops are.
Why hold the laptops at Pace until the schools are ready?
Our building at 2040 Corporate Lane has 40,000 square feet for the offices, the imaging lab, the warehouse and the loading dock. Each item in the warehouse is tagged to its order, and orders are staged on the shelves by order.
Your equipment register in the Hub lists what we’re holding for you, line by line, which means a school can take its laptops on the day its rooms are ready instead of on the day the maker ships.
What did Pace do for School District U-46?
School District U-46 in Elgin took its laptops in waves of 1,300 to 1,400. Each wave was staged in our warehouse in Naperville, where the laptops were asset-tagged, and then our own trucks delivered it to the schools.
We also assembled and installed about 1,600 Balance Box mobile display stands for the district, installed SMART Boards in about 110 rooms and provided technical staff, and the U-46 project page has the details.
Does every laptop have to go through Pace’s lab?
Not every laptop has to, because if your laptops need nothing done to them, we have them shipped from the vendor or the distributor straight to your schools, and the Hub tracks them the same way.
What should a district send Pace for a rollout quote?
Send us the count, the model and your image, and tell us which schools take how many. We quote the laptops and the setup together, on your contract, and the account manager for your area checks every line before it is quoted. Standard items are usually quoted the same business day.
Ask Pace for a rollout quote, or read how our device deployment works for laptops, desktops, tablets, carts and displays.
Questions
Can Pace image 1,500 laptops before school starts?
Yes, we set up district rollouts of 1,300 to 1,600 laptops at a time, at more than 100 stations in our Naperville lab, and we can put more than 20 technicians on site in a day. The final image, the purchase order and the manufacturer’s ship date set the calendar, so we recommend settling those three first.
Does Pace record each laptop’s serial number?
Yes, each serial number is recorded at our receiving desk against your order and goes into your equipment register in the Pace Hub, which is included with every account.
Can Pace deliver to each school and set the laptops out?
Yes, in the Chicago area we deliver on our trucks, and our technicians can install the devices where they go. A district elsewhere in the United States gets the laptops by carrier, set up and ready to use.
Does Pace assemble and install classroom display stands?
Yes, we assembled and installed about 1,600 Balance Box mobile display stands for School District U-46, and we also mount SMART and Promethean displays on Balance Box stands and install them in the rooms.