A digital matrix of words and numbers, spreadsheets are often portrayed as boring. What if I told you it's the key to getting everything you ever wanted in IT?
Rows and rows of indecipherable part numbers, item descriptions, quantities, and discount rates. They show up as an attachment in your inbox along with a message asking you to review them and provide your feedback. You click the file and scratch your head. Don't be afraid — it's just a matter of getting literate.
I started my love affair with parts lists when I found the Grainger catalogs lying around the communications shop in the Marine Corps. They sold everything you could think of for an office environment, from cardboard boxes to safes, ladders to toilet paper. If you had the budget, you could make your order and in a few days or weeks you could unwrap your little office present.
If you don't run an office or aren't in logistics or procurement, ordering can seem like a foreign task that you should stay away from. In fact, the sooner you understand this part of the IT process, the sooner you are more valuable to the organization.
Start with the Part
The star of the spreadsheet is the part number, or SKU. The vendor will use a unique identifier that allows them to know exactly what you need. These can be difficult to decipher — software subscription SKUs can be the worst. Vendors typically provide a guide showing the methodology used. When in doubt, ASK.
Descriptions Can Be Misleading
The least helpful descriptions are garbage acronyms that take another guide to decipher. The best are plain English with technically important details — hard drive size in GB/TB, voltage/watt rating of a PSU, cable type/gauge/rating. Bonus points for vendors that include those specs directly in the description.
How the Money Flows
Part numbers on the left, descriptions next, then columns of numbers — lead time, quantity, dollar amounts, discount rates. Confirming discount rates, ensuring the quantity is 10 and not 100 — the devil is in the details. Project schedules can be sunk by not taking the time to confirm.
To most non-technical people, the money is all they'll pay attention to. This provides a tremendous opportunity to make new friends.
Build for Success
Useful additions to a BOM beyond the basics: per-rack info, average power consumption and capacity, RU count, power outlet count, rack depth, copper and fiber interface count, interface speed.
Understanding how the procurement process works gives you insights into parts of the business critical for middle and upper-level positions. Literacy with equipment AND procurement is a career-elevating skill.
The next time a spreadsheet full of part numbers shows up in your inbox, don't scratch your head. Dig in. Learn the language. It's how you get the new toys — and more importantly, it's how you become the person who decides which toys the organization gets next.