PENN PRINTOUT
The University of Pennsylvania's Online Computing Magazine

PENN PRINTOUT September 1993 - Volume 10:1

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ISC site license agreements: Seeds of change

By Bonnie Gibson and Donna Milici

As the Office of Information Systems and Computing (ISC) works with Schools and centers to define those services best provided centrally, one area is emerging in which there is generally universal agreement: the negotiation of volume discounts and site license agreements. ISC is able to apply economies of scale to equipment and software purchases by consolidating the needs of multiple Schools, centers, and departments. Consolidation gives the University much better leverage with vendors than an individual or a department might have.


Benefits of site agreements

ISC's involvement in site agreements helps to promote University- wide standards, reduce support costs, and develop a better understanding of technology use on campus. In addition, the benefits that can accrue to the entire University include:

  • real dollar savings
  • improved functionality through the use of technology that might not otherwise be affordable
  • ease of access to software
  • regular notices regarding problems, bug fixes, and new releases
  • support for research or instructional initiatives
  • reduction in the use of illegal copies of software
  • increased prominence among strategic vendors

Proposed changes to the program

In order to maximize these benefits, ISC has committed itself to reorganizing and improving the site agreement program. The process began with the formation of a task force made up of individuals currently administering one or more agreements. This task force has accepted the challenge of completely redesigning the way site agreements are selected, negotiated, priced, distributed, and supported. In its preliminary report to the Vice Provost for Information Systems and Computing the task force has proposed:

  • the designation of certain agreements and licenses as strategic. Agreements and licenses are designated as strategic when they are central to the University's evolving technical and instructional infrastructure.
  • the identification of a pool of funds to underwrite the acquisition of strategic agreements and licenses in order to minimize their cost to the end user and promote their deployment on campus.
  • the establishment of an advisory group made up of representatives from both academic and administrative units, which will identify and prioritize strategic agreements and determine the allocation of resources to support these agreements.
  • the organization of a steering committee to implement the recommendations of the advisory group, to negotiate individual licenses, and to identify support mechanisms.
  • the formation of several product-evaluation groups made up of users with expertise in particular areas (e.g., statistics, utilities, communications) to test and evaluate comparable products from competing vendors and recommend the ones to be offered through the program.
  • the development of a consistent pricing structure for non- strategic agreements, designed to recover the direct cost of the software and documentation and the indirect costs associated with the administration of the agreement, including ordering, billing, distribution, and support.
  • the use of network and security technology, whenever possible, to minimize distribution costs.
The task force believes that adoption of these proposals will move Penn toward a coordinated site agreement program that ensures efficiency and responsiveness. After review and comment by ISC's Academic and Administrative Advisory Committees, the site agreement task force will present the final plan to the Vice Provost and begin to implement it.

BONNIE GIBSON is Director of Finance and Administration for ISC. DONNA MILICI is Director of Academic Computing Services.

Sidebar 1: Current agreements

The site agreements currently in effect are listed below. Because of the variations in terms and conditions negotiated with different vendors, each site agreement is unique. If you have a PennNet connection, refer to PennInfo for detailed information regarding contact information, definition of a "site," cost and ordering procedures, distribution process, access to documentation, and conditions for updates, renewals, and support. If you don't have a PennNet connection, contact the Computing Resource Center at 898-9085 so that you can be routed to the appropriate contact person for each licensed product.

Communications and networking

  • AppleShare from Apple Computer
  • LAN Workplace for DOS from Novell
  • MacSLIP from Hyde Park Software
  • MacTCP from Apple Computer
  • MacX from Apple Computer
  • MicroPhone for Macintosh from Software Ventures (available from Computer Connection at volume discount)
  • PC/TCP for DOS from FTP Software, Inc.
  • ProComm for DOS (shareware version) from DataStorm Technologies

Database

  • INGRES RDBMS for Macintosh, DOS, Windows, and a variety of workstations, from ASK/Ingres Corporation

Mathematics

  • Maple for Macintosh, DOS, Windows, NeXT, and a variety of workstation platforms, from Waterloo Maple
  • Mathematica for Macintosh, DOS, Windows, NeXT, and a variety of workstation platforms, from Wolfram Research, Inc.

Research

  • IDL for a variety of workstation platforms from Research Systems, Inc.

Security and Virus Protection

  • Disinfectant for Macintosh from John Norstad (public domain software)
  • FolderBolt for Macintosh from Kent-Marsh Ltd.
  • IronClad for DOS/Windows from Silver Oak Systems
  • Vi-Spy for DOS/Windows from R.G. Software Systems

Statistics

  • PC SAS from SAS Institute
  • SAS for RISC Workstations from SAS Institute
  • Systat for Macintosh, DOS and Windows from Systat, Inc.

Workstation-specific agreements

  • DEC Campus Software License Grant (CSLG) from Digital Equipment Corp.
  • DEC Hardware Maintenance Agreement from Digital Equipment Corp.
  • HP Hardware Volume Discount Agreement from Hewlett-Packard
  • IBM Higher Education Software Consortium (HESC) Agreement from International Business Machines
  • SGI Varsity Agreement from Silicon Graphics, Inc.
  • SGI Varsity Hardware Maintenance Agreement from Silicon Graphics, Inc.
  • SUN-4/SPARC Software Maintenance Agreement from SUN Microsystems, Inc.

Sidebar 2: Site agreements in PennInfo

There are several ways to access information about site agreements on PennInfo. (If you haven't used PennInfo before, see PennInfo article in this issue for instructions on accessing the system.)

If you simply want to see a list of available site agreements, select the "Computing" item from the PennInfo main menu. Then select "Site Licenses and Other Vendor Relationships." You may also use keyword searching to find what you need.

  • For a broad search of all products covered by site agreements, use the keyword "site agreements" or "site licenses." This will present a list of existing site agreements.
  • To find out whether a site agreement exists for a particular type of package, search on the category of software you're interested in, such as "database."
  • To find out whether a site agreement exists for a particular product, search on its name, for example, "Ingres."
If you find that no site agreement exists for the product you're interested in, send a request electronically to ssl@isc.upenn.edu. Any additional information you can include about the product will be useful, such as the purpose of the product, the number of copies needed, potential need outside your own organization, and vendor contact information. Your request will be forwarded to the advisory group mentioned in the main article for consideration.