Apple system software licensing transition 2005

Summary

RIT’s Apple Technology Assurance Program (TAP) agreement expires at the end of the FY2005 and Apple is not continuing this program. After careful consideration of our options, ITS recommends that conversion to a single Apple Maintenance Program (AMP) contract is in the campus’ best interest.

Your assistance is required! ITS needs to know your answers to the following questions before Monday, April 4, 2005, to fully chart our direction for Apple system software licensing. Please send your response to Karen Wilson (kbwdss@rit.edu).

Does your department intend to continue Mac OS system software licensing, starting with July 1, 2005? Assume that the per-computer cost will be no greater than $30 — and perhaps as low as $20, based on the volume of responses we get. (Current prices are $25 per license.)
How many computers — not people — would you cover under such a license, assuming a price range of $20-30 per computer? If your answer is different for a $20 vs. $30 per unit price, please note that.
How many of those computers are not covered under TAP today?

With your answers, we can provide our best estimate on the yearly per-computer fee for next year (and subsequent years of AMP participation).

ITS will host an open forum about Apple system software licensing on Thursday, March 10, 2005, at 11 a.m. All current Apple TAP contacts throughout the university, both financial and technical, will be be sent an invitation. We hope that you can join us.

Additional forums may be scheduled, as needed, for those not able to attend March 10.

Current situation

RIT has an Apple TAP agreement in place today, and it has been wildly successful. Participation has nearly doubled in the three years. This agreement provides the campus with system software licensing for Mac OS and Mac OS X on either a per FTE (headcount) and CPU (computer) basis. It is a "get current" and "stay current" license, where we lease licensing rights from Apple.

Unfortunately, Apple has discontinued this licensing option and therefore, we cannot renew our agreement. They have offered the Apple Maintenance Program (AMP) in its place.

RIT has several choices as our Apple TAP agreement expires at the end of this budget year.

Let the licenses expire, and revert to the last perpetual license for each computer — quite possibly the one that came with the computer originally. Further system software updates are not included, and most Macintosh computers will probably need to purchase licenses to get back to the current operating system.
Buy out the TAP licenses for $25 apiece to convert them from leased to perpetual licenses. Further system software updates are not included.
Convert from TAP to AMP. Apple will let us use our existing TAP agreement as proof that we have current licenses before we enter into maintenance with AMP. AMP is a "stay current" but not "get current" license, and has slightly different provisions than TAP had. However, there would be no additional transition fees to move from TAP to AMP. (The pricing may change based on RIT's total license volume and the number of licenses you need.)

Apple Maintenance Program (AMP) proposal

Pricing and terms

ITS proposes converting our TAP licenses to AMP, under a single agreement for all of RIT, as of July 1, 2005. AMP will again be a three-year total commitment. The per-computer yearly price is expected to be $20-$30, based on the total number of licenses purchased.

These prices are our best, most inexpensive option. They beat prices for educationally-discounted shrinkwrapped copies of Mac OS X — your department would pay more for a single copy in the bookstore than you would for three years of updates on AMP. The AMP prices are better than the volume licenses (for ten or more units) of Mac OS X. On top of that, AMP covers upgrades for your system software for the duration of the three-year contract. If all of RIT's current TAP licensees convert to AMP, we expect that our yearly per-unit price will drop under $25.

If you currently have computers covered by TAP licenses, there will be no additional fee to convert them to AMP. This is our incentive from Apple to move to the new contract. Starting on July 1, 2005, your department will simply be billed for AMP instead of TAP. The yearly unit price will be determined by the total number of AMP licenses RIT purchases.

If you are not covered by TAP, you will not be billed to add to AMP coverage as long as your system software license is current. Apple is expected to ship Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" in the first half of calendar 2005. If you are not on TAP today, you may need to upgrade to "Tiger" first before adding AMP maintenance. However, you can do that inexpensively by buying TAP licenses through ITS before the end of June 2005 at $25 per computer that you need covered.

Contract benefits and differences

A single campus-wide AMP contract will continue to provide the following popular TAP features:

Guaranteed upgrade coverage to "stay current" for all Mac OS and Mac OS X versions — no matter what computer you have, you can purchase AMP to bring it up to the latest operating system it can run
Low, predictable yearly costs in line with TAP pricing
Separate license and installation media pricing, so that you buy only what you need
One anniversary/renewal date for all licenses on campus if purchased through ITS, which is helpful for those of us managing and supporting software licensees
Per computer pricing
License transfer from one computer to another, so you can provision licenses as needed for new models as they replace older systems
Capability to purchase additional licenses in subsequent years of the contract — to add coverage for new computers or more computers, as needed.

We will be able to add new computers to coverage by purchasing additional units, or we can transfer existing AMP licenses to them. When a computer formerly covered by AMP is removed from the contract, it will retain a perpetual license to the operating system that was current when it was taken off the contract. Computers removed from TAP had to revert to the last perpetual license, or purchase an upgraded license to run legally.

Like TAP, AMP requires a three-year commitment. You can take computers off AMP coverage, but you will still need to pay for the license until the end of the total contract. If you are moving a new computer in to replace an older one, the AMP maintenance can be transferred to the newer computer without paying for an additional license.

At this time, AMP will not directly provide some features you may have enjoyed under the TAP agreement:

"Get current" coverage (you must have a current system software license before entering AMP, which our current TAP agreement will give us until the end of June)
Per headcount pricing — AMP is per computer only
Home use rights, which means faculty/staff will need to purchase their own licenses for home computers
Media duplication rights, so we will not be able to legally make copies of Mac OS or Mac OS X media for on-campus use.

Transition path

The following flow chart should assist you as we transition from TAP to AMP.