CIT’s Software Distribution Project (SDP) is a subscription-based service that provides brand-name software to the NIH community at significant cost reductions. Through multi-year, large-volume license agreements, NIH (and participating DHHS Agencies) save more than $5,000,000 annually. In fiscal year 2000, SDP provided software to more than 34,000 customers, including more than 95% of all NIH personnel.
Three important changes have occurred recently:
More information about the SDP is available on the new SDP Web site—click on "Information" and choose the link to "SDP Description."
Microsoft Enterprise Agreement
Microsoft recently changed its licensing strategy to include a new approach to upgrades. When the changes take effect October 1, 2001, analysts predict they will result in substantially increased costs to the customer. However, we will not be affected by these changes because NIH’s Enterprise Agreement (EA) with Microsoft has recently been renewed.
The following questions and answers will give you more information about the agreement.
Q. Why is there an EA at NIH? Q. What is a Microsoft EA? Q. What are the key elements of the new EA?
• upgrades from Office Standard to Office Professional for all enrolled desktops Q. What are the enrollment fees? Q. How do I participate in the EA? Q. Who is responsible for negotiating the EA?
A. CIT negotiated the EA on behalf of DHHS and administers it through the SDP Web site (see above).
Q. What is the time period for the agreement? Adobe Enterprise Licensing Agreement
CIT has established its first Adobe Enterprise Licensing Agreement (ELA) that covers most of the Adobe product lines including Acrobat, Illustrator, PageMaker and Photoshop. The agreement provides licensing, media, documentation and maintenance at the deepest discount level, regardless of the quantity purchased. A comparison of prices with and without the ELA:
Use the SDP Web page for acquiring Adobe software. The contract number for the Adobe agreement is PCG16APR200180557 and must be referenced on all orders. Please note: maintenance must be purchased with each license.
Corel WordPerfect
In an effort to keep costs at an affordable level, technical support and maintenance from Corel for WordPerfect has been phased out. For more information regarding Corel support, please contact TASC at (301) 594-6248.
Assistance For more information on the licensing agreements with Microsoft and Adobe, please call TASC or send e-mail to tasc@mail.nih.gov.
A. The advantage is that NIH gets products at a significantly reduced cost while avoiding the administrative responsibilities that are associated with software acquisition.
A. The Enterprise Agreement (EA) provides software upgrades, or maintenance, and licensing for certain Microsoft products including Office, operating systems and server software. The NIH EA is a three-year, large-volume agreement.
A. The new EA is focused on software maintenance (unlike the previous EA that was license oriented). The current EA provides:
• upgrades from Windows 9x to Windows NT/2000
• continued home-use rights for Microsoft Office
A. The fee for desktop enrollment has increased from $290 to $320 per desktop, per year. There are also server fees; please contact your IC/Agency representative or SDP program staff for additional information.
A. Chances are you are already enrolled. Every IC within NIH fully participates in the EA—with the exception of the National Library of Medicine, which has a different Microsoft agreement available to libraries. AHRQ, CDC, FDA/CBER, HRSA, HIS and SAMHSA are also full or partial participants.
A. The current EA is effective from May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2004.
Adobe Software
Government Purchase Price
Without ELA
With ELA
Acrobat
$47.18
$27.55
Illustrator
$288.92
$228.00
PageMaker Plus
$364.42
$285.00
| Interface Online 219 [ June 25, 2001 ] | Back | Index | Next |
