Ever since computers entered the workplace, the increasingly complex software licensing issues have become very much a headache for users.

"There are a variety of licensing models adopted by software suppliers," explains Roger So from Microcomputer Application Support Section. "Some software is licensed to each individual computer while others are licensed according to the number of concurrent users, and some may even be licensed on per-CPU basis."

What complicates the matter further is the fact that some software may consist of a range of sub-products – each of which is licensed separately. So the purchaser/user has to read and comply with the licensing agreements.

For a widely used software, the availability of a site license can save a great deal of collective time, effort and expense for the University. "Take the Microsoft site license program for example," says Roger, "Since almost every staff uses this software, it's more advantageous to buy a site license than buying the boxed license individually." The Microsoft site license, known as Microsoft Campus Agreement, is priced on staff FTE (full time equivalent) counts. "The site license is more than 90% cheaper than purchasing individual boxed licenses," adds Roger. "And we are entitled to all available versions of the licensed software throughout the term of the agreement."

Besides time and cost, the site license brings other added benefits : With everyone using the same software available from the site license, document exchange across campus is standardized and software compatibility with ongoing administrative information systems is ensured. In the case of the antivirus software, PC-cillin site license, support effort is also streamlined tremendously, "When there is a virus problem, our support staff only need to support one product, which is more effective than supporting many different ones," notes Roger.

While the Microsoft site license was purchased for its popularity in workplace, the PC-cillin site license was purchased for strategic reasons. "The main aim is to enforce computer security and to protect the overall campus IT infrastructure. So this site license not only covers all University-owned computers, but also computers owned by staff and students," says Roger, "From a security perspective, providing protection to those home computers of staff and students can in turn, protect the whole campus network and systems." According to a survey, more than 90% of University PC users have installed anti-virus software at their home PCs. (For those who haven't installed it yet, download the software now from http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/itsc/security/antivirus/index.html).

Licensing rules change rapidly, so as software technology. "We'll keep an eye out for alternative products on the market. Open source solutions such as Linux and Open Office will be evaluated from time to time. However, before we make any move, it's also necessary to consider users' acceptance and cost of product switching and user training." says Roger.

In addition to Microsoft products and PC-cillin, ITSC has organized a variety of other software site license and volume license programs, please visit http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/itsc/compenv/license/index.html for details.