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Guidelines for Evaluating Software Titles

Considerations for evaluation of new software titles for purchase and installation:

Caveats: Instruction, Research, and Administration all have slightly different foci, so use these guidelines judiciously. Ask us for assistance.

Faculty are often directly approached by vendors based on teaching or research interests. While this in itself does not pose any issues, it can cause problems if the software is intended to be used in a classroom or lab. Here are a list of questions that can help you collect information that will help ECN address your interest appropriately. Note: We don't install trial software on ECN machines.

  1. Does the software license agreement require a Signature from a University representative?
     
  2. Does it need admin rights to run, or will it run as a regular user?
     
  3. Will you need one copy, or many copies? If many, how is the license server setup?
     
  4. Does the license allow for students to install the software on personally owned laptops?
     
  5. Does it cost more than $10,000?
     
  6. Is this a gift?
     
  7. Do you know where you wish this installed? (location wise)?
     
  8. Are there any requirements that restrict the use of the software? Geographically, for example? Or perhaps Export Controlled?
     
  9. When do new versions get released, and can they time the license renewal to the Academic Calendar?
     
  10. How often does the software update, and can the update be frozen during the academic calendar?
     
  11. Is the software standalone, or does it have a server component?

 

This is obviously not an exhaustive list, but we will add more questions to this page as we come across them. If you have any questions, or feedback, please send us a note through: www.purdue.edu/ECN/ContactUs

Last Modified: Aug 26, 2022 9:20 am GMT-4
Created: Jan 7, 2021 2:25 pm US/Eastern by admin
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