IMAC covers the small and medium physical changes that keep an IT estate matching how people work. Someone joins, someone moves desks, a second monitor is needed, a laptop is retired. Each task is simple. Hundreds of them across many sites are not, unless the scope is clear.
This article explains what IMAC includes, what to write into the scope, how grouping works, and how disposal fits. It is a buyer's view, so you can check any provider's proposal, including ours.
What does IMAC stand for?
IMAC stands for install, move, add and change. IMACD or IMAC-D adds a fifth task: delete, remove or dispose of an asset.
Public sector service catalogs use the same terms. The State of Georgia's technology agency, for example, lists IMAC as Install, Move, Add, Change and IMAC-D as Install, Move, Add, Change, Delete. Providers differ on what the D means: delete, decommission or disposal. Write your meaning into the scope.
| Task | Typical examples | What the scope should define |
|---|---|---|
| Install | New laptop, desktop, printer, meeting room screen or rack device set up and tested | Who supplies the item, the build or image, and the acceptance test |
| Move | Equipment relocated between desks, floors or buildings | Pre-move labeling, transport, destination readiness and post-move test |
| Add | Second monitor, dock, memory, drive or peripheral added | Who supplies the part, compatibility checks and records updated |
| Change | Settings, port, user assignment or configuration changed | Change authority, the exact change and the rollback |
| Dispose (the D) | Retired hardware removed, wiped and recycled or returned | Data sanitization method, certificate and chain of custody |
What is included in an IMAC service?
An IMAC service includes the physical work on the asset plus the checks and records that prove it is done.
Work follows a fixed order: confirm the request, stage and prepare, do the work, test, then record. In practice the service includes the following. Break-fix repairs, large rollouts and software licensing are normally scoped separately, so say so if you expect them to be included.
- Preparation: staging equipment, labeling and confirming the schedule with the site contact.
- Execution: the install, move, add, change or disposal itself.
- Verification: power-on, connectivity and function checks, and user or site acceptance.
- Records: asset register or CMDB updates for every task.
- Closeout: photos where agreed, sign-off and a closeout report.
What should an IMAC scope of work say?
An IMAC scope should make every task countable, testable and recorded, so both sides can tell when it is done.
Cover these items in writing. Scopes usually fail in the same places: tasks described as a bundle, so no one can say what one move is; records "updated" with no system or fields named; hardware supply never assigned; disposal added at the end with no method or certificate; and hours of access assumed, not agreed.
- Task types and quantities per site, with a definition of one task. Is moving a desk and its docking station one move or two?
- Complexity tiers, if any, and what puts a task in a higher tier.
- Who supplies hardware, cabling and consumables.
- Who owns the build or image, and who runs it.
- Hours of work, access, escorts and lead time for scheduling.
- Acceptance tests and who signs for each task.
- Which asset system to update and which fields to fill.
- Disposal method, data sanitization standard and certificates.
- Exceptions, such as a task that cannot proceed and what happens next.
When is IMAC a single request and when is it a project?
Small, isolated tasks run as single requests. A coordinated batch of tasks becomes a project with a plan, a schedule and an owner.
Public catalogs show the boundary clearly. Georgia's agency, for instance, handles end-user device requests for up to 40 devices at one site through a standard catalog request. Larger batches go through a separate proposal. Your threshold will differ, so set it in the scope.
An office relocation is the typical project. It needs move groups, a labeling scheme, a cutover plan and a checkpoint before anyone sits down. Our office relocation solution page describes that flow.
How does IMAC handle disposal and data?
Disposal in IMAC means removing the asset, sanitizing its data to the level you set, and recording both.
NIST's media sanitization guidance, SP 800-88, helps organizations choose a sanitization method based on how sensitive the data is. You choose the standard. The scope should name it, say whether wiping happens on site or off site, and require a record per asset, such as a certificate, with chain of custody for anything leaving the building. If a drive is not wiped on site, the scope should say who holds it in the meantime.
What scheduling and response terms belong in an IMAC agreement?
An IMAC agreement should state how far ahead requests are made, how fast the provider schedules them and what counts as completed.
Unlike an outage, IMAC work is planned, so the terms are about lead time and reliability, not emergency response. Write down the notice needed for a standard request and for a request that needs extra staging. Say how the provider confirms the appointment, and what happens when the user or site contact is not available. Agree the window in which a task counts as on time, and how exceptions are reported.
Report on volumes, on-time completion and exceptions each month or at project close. That lets you spot patterns, such as one site that is never ready, and fix the cause instead of paying for repeat visits.
How do I know an IMAC task was done correctly?
You know it was done when you can see evidence for it: a test, a sign-off, an updated record and, where agreed, photos.
Ask for a closeout report that ties each completed task to those items. Spot check a sample against the floor. We build this into every engagement: one engagement manager, a written scope, photos and test results, and updated asset records. Our how we work page shows the phases. If a task fails its test, the report should say so, name the cause and show the retest, rather than hide the failure.
Key takeaways
- IMAC means install, move, add and change. IMACD adds delete or disposal. Define the D in your scope.
- A good scope makes each task countable, testable and recorded.
- Set the line between single requests and projects, and say what counts as one task.
- Name the data sanitization standard and require a record per disposed asset.