The best way to explain the level of commitment needed to fully exploit standardization is to present some examples. For every 100 standard PCs purchased by users, the IT group buys 2. These become swapout spares that are used to return the user to service in a guaranteed time of one hour or less. Every technology classroom has a local server so that instructors can be given a guarantee that they can get to their images, and that the images will appear within the specified time. The institution subsidizes the cost of maintaining common versions of all supported software in the labs, in classrooms, and in faculty offices.
Faculty see a consistent environment no matter where they are.
Changes to technology components such as network routers, servers, and operating systems are tested, before they are propagated throughout the environment, to ensure that they don't break any standard functions.