Software Licensing Support

Project Name:   Software Licensing Support

Project Implementers:
Phase One: Instructional Computing
Phase Two: Host department to-be-decided; customer-based advisory committee

Academic and administrative departments across campus currently benefit from the Software Depot. Well over 100 departments currently use the service and enjoy the cost savings.

Project Beneficiaries:   UCSB instructional mission; in particular, faculty using the web in support of instruction, and units supporting that activity. Potential for broader impact as a general portal framework for delivery of personalized tools to students and possibly other campus constituent groups.

Problem Statement

Software license management is a core IT service not unlike the inception of UCSB’s backbone network. Effective license management affects essentially every computer on campus, yet there is no funding support for this service. A limited amount of license management is being handled by Instructional Computing (IC) using roughly 80% FTE of donated staffing. Even at this level of staffing the Software Depot service has saved the campus over $1.1M in its four years of operation.

A sane license management service would require at least one core-supported FTE to provide a basic service level to the campus. When such a proposal was presented to ITPG two years ago it was highly ranked but not funded. As a result, a number of licensing services have been discontinued. This has eroded the quality of the Software Depot and pushed responsibilities back to departmental IT staff. It is estimated that an average-sized department spends 200 man-hours annually in license administration and management.

A further problem exists due to ongoing budget cuts. Although the 2004-05 cuts are not known, it is likely that IC will need to reduce its student staff. The consequence of this is that the career staff currently supporting Software Depot may have to be reassigned to other duties at IC. Thus the need for a funded Office of Software Licensing independent of IC's available staffing.

Project Summary

An Office of Software Licensing would vastly streamline the operation of software acquisition and license management. Currently the Software Depot currently provides three broad categories of service: provision of an online software purchasing system, coordination of software site-license and volume-purchase agreements, and affiliated support for these services. Without any funding it is anticipated that IC can continue to provide the online software purchasing system only, and can’t guarantee ongoing service into the future.

The ITPG Software Licensing Subcommittee has come up with a number of recommendations for the formation of a true Office of Software Licensing. These recommendations are split into two phases of development. Phase One of our proposal solves the fundamental problem by allocating a permanent FTE to staff a license management service. This position would be housed at IC and leverage the existing licensing and technological expertise within IC. Funding of such a position would guarantee the provision of the following core services:

• Management of the purchasing relationship with the UC-wide software reseller, including the provision of an online software purchasing and license management system, an affiliated software lending library, and an FTP service in conjunction with the OIT.
• Representation of the campus on the UCOP TAS committee.
• Coordination of site-license and volume purchases for the faculty and staff population.

We believe a mid-level CNT-class position will provide an appropriate level of staffing for these duties.

An additional component of Phase One is an overhaul of the online license ordering and management system to further streamline the software acquisition procedure and add new features to simplify the workflow of departmental IT staff. A short-term contract programmer would be hired to handle this component.

The second phase of development for the Office of Software Licensing provides further centralization of these services, providing economies of scale for common software management tasks across campus. In Phase Two the service transforms into a true Office of Software Licensing by incorporating the most-needed license management responsibilities. These include:

• Official vendor support contact or conduit for large-scale license agreements.
• Maintenance of records for departmental software purchases; to be used for license auditing.
• Enhanced record keeping to provide more access and information to departmental administrators.
• Liaison to the Purchasing Department for handling the legal issues with large-scale purchases.
• Provision of a knowledge base of licensing contracts, including an online repository of license documentation and compliance issues.
• Coordination of interdepartmental licensing efforts.
• Provision of technical analysis, research, evaluations and recommendations for proposed software licenses.
• Provision of a campus-wide license server.
• Marketing the available services to campus departments.
• Ongoing funding for a "contingency account" in support of reaching incremental price breaks on large-scale licenses.

Development of the second phase would require one additional FTE at minimum. The Phase One FTE would take on some of the tasks described in Phase Two, while a second FTE would take on some portion of the remainder of these responsibilities. We believe this second position could be satisfied by a mid-level administrative assistant.

Upon funding of Phase Two, it is recommended that an advisory committee be established to provide limited consulting and direction of the service offerings. This body would be responsible for the oversight of the service, including the prioritization and implementation of new services.

It has been recognized that IC is not necessarily the best "host" department for an Office of Software Licensing, as such a service is not part of IC’s charter or mission. The advisory committee would be responsible for recommending the most appropriate location for an expanded Office of Software Licensing. Once a suitable location has been recommended, all project funding will go to that department.

UCSB Visionary Requirements

At this point support for the Software Depot service is widespread. Well over 100 academic and administrative departments across campus use the Software Depot service. The only requirement from senior officers is the funding allocation required to make this a true core service and expand it to match the needs of our campus community.

Costs and Benefits

• $32k one-time for hiring of contract programmer to develop an extended order management system.
• $45k ongoing for support of a CNT-II FTE as service manager. This figure represents 12% into the CNT-II range plus benefits.

• Proven ongoing annual savings to the campus exceeding $400k annually.
• Proven efficient system for departmental acquisition of software available at educational and volume discounts.
• Continued service in perpetuity with no danger of closing shop in times of budgetary crisis.
• A new order management system would greatly streamline the internal operations of the service and resultantly allow it to be reasonably staffed with a single FTE.

• $31k ongoing to cover AA-II FTE for order management and administrative support. This figure represents 12% into the AA-II range plus benefits.
• $5k ongoing to fund contingency budget.
• $10k ongoing to cover operational expenses, depending on where the service is eventually located. This figure will be determined by the Software Depot Advisory Committee once a suitable host department has been identified.

• True centralized management for all campus software licenses, removing a significant burden from departmental IT staff while providing economies of scale and preventing redundancy of efforts.
• Enhanced management of software license ownership, which would streamline the generation of audit records and save significant numbers of man-hours in departmental record management.
• Increased annual savings through use of the contingency fund. This would allow the service to meet necessary price breaks that lower overall cost of certain volume licenses.
• Ability of the service to effectively coordinate with the Purchasing Department, which ensures that negotiated license contracts have met legal requirements.
• Provision of a centralized license management server, transferring another burden from departmental IT staff by generating economies of scale for this necessary service.

Matching Opportunities

The hardware and staff time required to design, develop, and run the existing Software Depot order management system has been provided by IC. This support would continue through Phase One development. After the hiring of the career CNT in Phase One, the new FTE would take over management of the service.

Project Timeline

The Software Depot service has been in production for over four years. It is expected that the design, development, and testing of the extended order management system planned for in Phase One would take approximately six months. After this initial period of development, the Phase One funding would be used to hire a permanent service manager.

Coordination of Phase Two would begin following Phase One, meaning at minimum one year out from the date of funding. Estimating a timeline for this expansion is difficult without a decision of where an expanded Office of Software Licensing would be housed. However, the aforementioned advisory committee would be formed upon notification of funding to handle the necessary details.

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