Jean-Jacques Guillard | IT Service Desk Manager, NXP France
When Jean-Jacques Guillard, an IT Service Desk Manager in NXP France, saw aging computer equipment that most people would have considered ready for the recycle bin, he saw a way to help young patients in the long-term stay ward of a local hospital.
The Suresnes location, a small office with only about 80 people at the time, was facing an issue that many NXP sites have to deal with. The computer equipment they owned was becoming obsolete. It was too old for business use, but not so old as to be entirely useless. So what should they do with it?
Jean-Jacques had seen an article in a local newspaper about an association, called Docteur Souris (Doctor Mouse), that provides IT solutions to local hospitals that have children as long-term patients. When Jean-Jacques contacted the people at Docteur Souris, he learned that they were looking for equipment that was more modern than what he had on hand - Docteur Souris usually donated newer items like laptops and Wi-Fi connections so the kids could have a convenient way to stay in touch with families and friends while in the hospital.
That‘s when Jean-Jacque and his colleagues really got creative. They erased any business-sensitive data from the old NXP machines, loaded them with open-source software, and organized a sale that gave employees the option to buy the used equipment. Then, having sold the old equipment, they negotiated with Philips Consumer Electronics and used the proceeds to get new equipment at a discounted price.
The Suresnes team held a ceremony in which they presented Docteur Souris with their donation of new wireless adaptors and memory sticks. Docteur Souris then installed everything at the children‘s house at Kremlin-Bicetre hospital.
Jean-Jacques recently moved from Suresnes to Caen, where they made the switch from leasing to ownership a few years ago. “The Caen site will be facing a similar situation soon,” says Jean-Jacques. The Caen site is much bigger, with 1,200 employees and 1,600 computer stations. For Jean-Jacques, those extra seats represent bigger opportunities for donation, since there will be more funds to work with. His team will have more choices, such as contributing to a variety of organizations or making a more sizable donation to just one. “Those extra seats mean we‘ll be able to do greater things.”