Many schools - particularly the more dynamic segments of high schools and community colleges - have begun to undertake instruction in the areas of PC repair, networking (vendor-neutral and specific alike), operating systems, wireless technologies, and so forth. For some schools, however, this leap forward has come only with a later realization that there are tremendous startup costs and ongoing expenses associated with such endeavors, especially considering that many of these instructional elements have historically called for independent instructional facilities. From this perspective, institutions may find they have to cut their programmatic vision short in the face of harsher budgetary realities of supporting so many laboratories, or abandon their efforts altogether. In this paper, it is suggested that this scenario does not have to become a reality. Instead, it is proposed that affordable, functional, and practical multipurpose Information Technology (IT) classrooms can be developed when a combination of good initial design and planning, affordable technologies, and mature business models are practiced. With the application of certain methodologies, a system can be created for any institution wishing to develop facilities and the means to support and mature them over time. Often faced with budgetary constraints, space limitations, or uncertain financial support mechanisms, it is becoming important that higher education institutions engaging in the instruction of advanced computing and networking develop a process and methodology for establishing and maintaining computing laboratories that can service a variety of diverse and complex instructional needs
