Software Purchasing

Software purchasing at the ANU is generally undertaken by each budget area within the Schools, Faculties, Centres and Divisions. Each area has its own internal procedures. Purchasing is usually controlled by Local IT Support Staff (LITSS) or the local business office.

In addition to the services provided by LITSS or business offices, the Division of Information (DOI) Software Office also provides a coordination service for the purchase of software. Software that is currently available for purchasing is listed here; alternatively you can subscribe to a mailing list to keep up to date on the latest software information.

In some cases it is beneficial for software purchases to be amalgamated into either a site license or a bulk purchase. The DOI Software Office focuses its services on providing these opportunities to the University. Guidelines on requesting software are below.

The DOI Software Office has already negotiated a number of University wide agreements including agreements with Microsoft, Apple, Adobe and Macromedia. A list of agreements can be found at Software Agreements.

Guidelines

Your LITSS can access a range of software from the Software Archive or contact the DOI Software Office for details.

To request software directly from the DOI Software Office:

Send an email to software@anu.edu.au or log a job on the DOI Helpdesk at http://doihelpdesk.anu.edu.au

In your request please include:

1. Your name and contact details
2. The software name, version and platform required
3. Vendor (if known)
4. Cost (if known)
5. Budget code & authorisation from a financial delegate
6. How many licenses needed (how many users will there be)
7. Who might use it and what for

In processing a software request the DOI Software Office will decide if a ‘one-off’ purchase, a bulk purchase or site license is required. For a bulk purchase or site license the software to be purchased must:

1. Have broad campus use*; and/or
2. Bring substantial cost savings to the University – 5% or greater – by arranging the purchase centrally.

*Broad campus use cannot be defined precisely, but as a guide we would expect that the software would be used by 3 or more areas.You will receive a response to your software request within 48 hours. In some cases you will be asked for more information.

In the event that a bulk purchase or site license is required the following process will be followed:

• Following the request, the DOI Software Office will send out an email to LITSS to assess the need within other areas on campus.
• The DOI Software Office will evaluate the responses.
• If there is a clear administrative or cost advantage then a bulk purchase or site license will be organised. This may involve:
  1. Organising a meeting of interested parties. It is expected that the persons participating in the meeting will have the authority of their budget area to commit the area to a purchase. At this meeting, details of the components of the purchase will be discussed.
  2. A price for the software will be negotiated with the vendor.
  3. Participating areas will be advised of the cost and requested to confirm participation by providing a budget code for cost recovery.
  4. The DOI Software Office will collect and distribute the software media to participating areas.

Participation after purchase has been effected:

The method used to process late participation is determined by the license type:

1. Site Licenses – ANU pays a standard amount for up to a maximum number of users (eg. S-Plus, SAS, SPSS)
2. Individual Licenses – while a bulk purchase for many areas may be arranged, the license is still based on individual copies purchased (eg. NAG Genstat).

Areas wishing to join a bulk purchase or site license (type 1) after the purchase date has been made and costs apportioned will, if it is possible under the license, be charged the same amount as participating areas pro-rated for the days remaining in the license period they joined. At the end of the license period, the income and expenditure will be calculated, and any surplus funds from the previous year will be returned to the ‘pool’ to achieve a refund (or reduction in cost for the renewal) effected for all users in the following period.

In the case of the type 2 licenses, like some bulk purchases latecomers are likely to have to pay a higher cost per license as they will be part of a smaller buying pool, as the cost is dependent on the numbers participating at the time of the purchase. The higher the license numbers, the lower the cost. New license cannot be added to the original purchase.

The DOI Software Office will ensure that those who commit themselves initially to a software purchase will not be disadvantaged financially by others who decide at a later date that they wish to participate.

If software media needs to be collected it will be available from the DOI Software Office located at:

Building 3J (behind the Faculty of Law)
Old Administration Area.