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Bob Hudack

License Microsoft Software with UC-MCCA

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Microsoft Office

Popular Microsoft software is available at reduced cost to UCI through an agreement between UC and Microsoft, the “Microsoft Consolidated Campus Agreement” or MCCA.

The MCCA agreement is an annual lease rather than a standard outright purchase, and cost is based on a unit’s employee count rather than the number of computers that will run the software.

There are over 65,000 Campus Agreement Participants enrolled throughout the UC System. At UCI, the Merage School, OIT, ICS, UCI Libraries, Health Sciences, Soc Eco, Arts, Housing, Bio Sci Dean’s Office, Engr Dean’s Office, Law, A&BS, and others have enrolled.

While a careful analysis of your individual situation is always recommended, units which have more computers than staff (say, a computer lab) or units which want to be running the latest release of a package are likely to find MCCA an attractive alternative.

Participation in MCCA is subject to an open enrollment period which ends this year on May 6.  Contact Bob Hudack at x46759 or rjhudack@uci.edu for help in determining if this program will help your unit.

Acrobat Term Site License

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Adobe Acrobat

There’s a new low-cost licensing option for campus users of Adobe’s Acrobat software, the Term Site License (TSL).

Via TSL, faculty and staff in a unit are licensed based on the number of employees they have, not the number of computers. There is simplified compliance and administration, as there is no need to track installations per computer.  The next year’s renewal is just as easy. The payment is based on a new FTE count.

TSL features:

  • Annual licenses
  • Updates and upgrades available at no additional cost
  • Pricing based upon number of faculty and administrative staff FTE instead of the quantity of computers
  • Simplified compliance and administration No need to track installations per computer.  Install on new computers mid-year at no additional cost.
  • Lab computer installations included at no additional cost
  • Work at home rights for eligible faculty and staff to use on one additional computer for work-related purposes.
  • No support is included
  • If you do not renew, you must remove the software from your computers

Under TSL, everyone in your department can gain access to Acrobat X Pro for only $3.96 /FTE / year. Orders are due by March 31st.

For more information, contact Bob Hudack rjhudack@uci.edu 949-824-6759, or the University’s contract software reseller, SHI.

Saving Money through Strategic Sourcing

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In the current budgetary climate, faculty and staff should be aware of the opportunities for saving money on academic software and computer equipment that NACS coordinates.

NACS works with representatives from the other UC campuses to leverage the buying power of the multi-campus system to negotiate a variety of discounted software licensing contracts.  Among the research software for which UCI has licensing programs are the mathematics packages Matlab and Mathematica, the statistical packages SAS and SPSS, and GIS software from ESRI.  You can explore UCI’s software licensing agreements online.

UCI also participates in UC’s Microsoft Consolidated Campus Agreement (MCCA) wherein units can purchase annual licenses for Microsoft software such as Windows and Office for all computers owned by the unit.  NACS can help units determine whether this option fits their needs.  Information on this and other options for purchasing Microsoft software is available online.

Finally, UCI has a strategic sourcing agreement with KST Data which provides discounts on the purchase of new desktop and laptop computers.

Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 Migration

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Windows Vista Logo

Windows Vista Logo

Microsoft has released new editions of its Windows operating system, Vista, as well as its productivity suites Office 2007 and Office 2008 for Macintosh.  Here is some information NACS has collected to help users and departments adapt to and make optimal use of these new tools.

In the summer of 2007, NACS coordinated a series of workshops, partly funded by a grant from Microsoft.  We are currently planning the next series of workshops.

NACS works with its counterparts at other UC campuses to be sure UCI faculty and staff have access to advantageous licensing programs, including UC-MCCA (the Microsoft Consolidated Campus Agreement).

We have introduced Vista and Office 2007 in the AIRB training lab, and will expand their availability as demand grows.

NACS and departmental computing support staff can assist faculty and staff deciding when (or whether) to migrate to Vista and Office 2007. Vista requires a higher-performance system to run effectively, and Office 2007 and 2008 introduce new file formats that are incompatible with earlier versions.  Office 2007 and 2008 offer the option to save files in a backward-compatible format, and users of earlier versions of Office can download the free Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007.

Windows Vista runs most software well, but some specialized research or administrative tools won’t run under Vista. NACS recommends purchasers of Vista systems plan to test their most important applications in advance of purchase.

Today, all new PC purchases running Windows come with Vista licenses.  If running Windows XP is important to you, choose a business-class system from a reseller like Dell or HP, and select a Windows XP configuration.  The University’s strategic sourcing reseller, KST Data, offers a variety of systems preconfigured with Windows XP Professional.  Be aware that obtaining the correct XP drivers for hardware designed for Vista may be problematic.

Microsoft last released a service pack (a collection of software updates) for Windows XP in May, and therefore by Microsoft policy, XP will be supported until at least May 2009.  However, Microsoft has not committed to supporting or retiring XP beyond that date.  Interested users can follow Microsoft’s evolving plans for XP at the Windows Service Pack Road Map web site.