Johannesburg, 21 Jul 2004
The University of Stellenbosch is renewing its campus software licence agreements with both Microsoft and Novell through IT infrastructure and solutions provider, Datacentrix.
According to Benette Kriel, head of user support at the university, the agreements ensure the legality of both sets of products and guarantee that the entire campus is covered in using the products. "This type of agreement also ensures the lowest cost of ownership.
"We chose to partner with Datacentrix in this instance as the company could not only offer us the most cost-effective solutions, but also has a history of doing business with the university and understands our needs. Datacentrix offers us valuable advice on our software decisions and works closely with the vendors to keep us up-to-date on the latest technologies and inform us of any changes that might have academic benefit," she says.
"Based on these factors, it made sense for us to continue the business relationship and award these tenders to Datacentrix."
Tania Bisset, senior account manager at Datacentrix, says the solution provider`s solid service track record stood it in good stead to be selected for these projects. "As a Novell Business Expert and Microsoft Gold Partner, Large Account Reseller and Enterprise Software Advisor, we are able to leverage our strong direct partner relationships for better pricing. In addition, these accreditations assure the quality of Datacentrix`s technical skills."
The university renews the Novell Academic Licence and Microsoft Campus agreements on an annual basis.
Microsoft`s Campus Agreement ensures that the University of Stellenbosch stays current on the latest Microsoft technology while satisfying the diverse needs of the institution across multiple computers and users. Not only does the agreement manage the software in quantity but it ensures that the institution also receives media for application and system products upgrades during the agreement term.
"This agreement is also a highly effective way to reduce the total cost of ownership for the university," says Moss Gondwe, public sector director at Microsoft South Africa. "By standardising on a platform of products, the university is reducing its total cost of software ownership, while increasing productivity and access to technology. Ultimately that plays a vital role in improving and increasing the use of technology in education."
Novell`s Academic Licence Agreement (ALA) assists the University of Stellenbosch in licensing, implementing and maintaining its software and technology investments. "The flexibility of this solution allows users to build its own product bundle from the solutions offered. The Novell Academic Licence Agreement is a cost-effective licensing agreement to our tertiary customers, which includes the open source technology offering. This allows our customers the freedom of choice," says Mandy Eagar from Novell South Africa.
"Novell`s focus has always been to offer solutions that work in a heterogeneous environment and across all platforms, irrespective of the operating system or business applications in use. Novell`s solutions offering available today puts the emphasis on working with the business solutions the customer has invested in, instead of rip and replace. With the open source solutions being incorporated, we believe that we are offering our customers the best of both worlds," Eagar adds.
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