The Regional District of Nanaimo board has approved a $439,000 deal that will allow for continued usage of Microsoft software.
An enterprise licence agreement between the RDN and Microsoft was set to expire on June 28, but at the regional district’s June 25 regular meeting, directors voted in favour of entering into a new three-year deal, amounting to $146,000 a year. According to a staff report, employees have Microsoft programs on personal computers, laptops and server-based software systems, with supplementary licences for each device accessing server-based software and services.
According to Gary Jurasek, RDN manager of information technologies, common Microsoft products used by the RDN include Windows 10, Microsoft Office, along with Office 365, Microsoft’s Outlook, SharePoint and Server. Several other Microsoft licences are also required to enable network connectivity and manage users/clients, he said.
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“The … agreement allows the RDN to pay for software upgrades, which are required by the providers, in equal payments over the three-year term,” Jurasek said in an e-mail. “Without the ELA, the RDN would have to repurchase software when upgrading, and this would increase costs by more than $100,000 per annum.”
Updates also allow the RDN better security and the agreement allows for continuous software upgrading during the term, according to the report.
The full cost of the agreement will be divvied up between the RDN’s different departments, based on usage and particular software system used and will anticipated to net the RDN an annual savings of more than $106,000, the report said.
reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
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