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Software deals in making

May 13, 1999

There’s been a lot of buzz on campus about the UW System’s negotiation with Microsoft Corp. over a new software buying agreement, buzz set off by the market domination of Bill Gates’ behemoth.

For more information on the Microsoft negotiations, check HotNews on DoIT’s home page. The UW–Madison representatives on the System negotiating team are Tom Fisher, associate director of Purchasing Services; Cathy Riley, purchasing agent for DoIT; and Pat Brennan, a software specialist for DoIT.

But what often isn’t noted is this: UW–Madison is negotiating with other vendors regarding similar agreements for what is called a “site license.” These negotiations, which also will involve other UW System campuses, aren’t as far along, so let’s look at Microsoft’s proposal to get a flavor of what the future may hold.

The current contract with Microsoft expires Tuesday, June 1, which makes negotiation an imperative, not a choice. Under current terms, UW–Madison faculty and staff can buy discounted Microsoft products from the Division of Information Technology (DoIT). Depending on the purpose, they use either departmental or personal money.

Now Microsoft has proposed a three-year site license for which the university would pay an annual fee. In exchange, faculty and staff could download Microsoft products onto their campus computers.

They also could obtain copies for their home computers, at no cost if they can tolerate a modem’s slow download, or for a fee not yet determined if they prefer CDs. Students, too, could get copies for their home computers.

“In other words, the incremental cost of another copy of a Microsoft product would be zero,” says Tad Pinkerton, acting chief information officer of DoIT.

The word “free” must be qualified, however, because the annual fee has to be paid somehow. Payment could come from any of several sources, including the system, UW–Madison central funds and departments, but the issue hasn’t been resolved.


Tad Pinkerton

Pinkerton says the university’s cost of doing business with Microsoft in the next fiscal year, without a site license, would be more than $700,000. The license cost, on the other hand, may be considerably less.

Microsoft would give the UW System better terms than its standard university license because more than 100,000 users are involved. In fact, counting system campuses and the Wisconsin Technical Colleges (also to be covered), the license would deliver 250,000 users.

Microsoft would make several products available to faculty, staff and students:

  • The Office Suite, including Word, PowerPoint and Excel for both PC and Macintosh platforms.
  • Upgrades of Microsoft operating systems (e.g., replacing Windows ’98 with Windows NT).
  • A set of programming languages called Visual Studio.
  • The program Front Page for web page development.
  • Client access licenses for server products.

So a site license – with Microsoft or any other vendor – would likely bring more products to more people for less money and less administrative overhead. And with Microsoft, at least, ownership would come with the product. Students, for instance, could take their copies with them after graduation.

“For the university and its users,” says Pinkerton, “this is an opportunity we have to explore.”

Respresenting UW–Madison on the system negotiating team are purchasing officials Tom Fisher and Cathy Riley, along with DoIT software expert Pat Brennan.

Negotiators say a site license offers advantages to vendors as well: more exposure to future customers, such as students with a lifetime of software buying ahead of them. But there’s a danger, of course, for a campus like UW–Madison that encourages diversity in its information technology.

“Having a site license only with Microsoft and conventional contracts with other vendors could lead to de facto standardization,” says Pinkerton. “Users would tend to gravitate toward the cheaper, more accessible Microsoft products.”

That’s exactly why DoIT is conducting talks with at least three other software vendors for site licenses: Corel (Word Perfect Office Suite), Apple (operating system upgrades) and Novell (network operating systems and associated software like GroupWise).