IUware Online program licensed to LSU

IUware Online has been offering free software to students, faculty and staff on all eight IU campuses since 1994. Until recently, the services IUware Online provided have been exclusively offered to those affiliated with IU. Now, IU has licensed IUware Online to Louisiana State University in a three-year agreement. The agreement includes any updates and improvements IU develops within the next three years, but IU still owns the license and reserves all rights, said Sue Workman, director of user support at IU.\nWorkman declined to give the amount IU would receive from its agreement with LSU.\nIUware was licensed last August, said Scott Delaney, manager of customer support at LSU. It took about two months to sort through and set up the license agreements. It was first available for use at LSU on Oct. 24, 2005, Delaney said.\n"We have had a massive response to this and have a positive review for the product," he said.\nUniversities that license the software distribution system from IU can adapt it to their respective campuses. LSU had a head start, since the product was licensed during the summer. The bulk of the customization took a couple of weeks, and there was help with the modifications from IU contacts, Delaney said.\nSince Oct. 24, 2005, the system has provided the LSU community with 79,385 product downloads and 11,506 users have logged on, he said. \nLicensing of the IUware Online is available to other universities, as well as corporations, but it is too early to tell which universities and corporations are interested, said Bill Brizzard, director of technology transfer at IU Research Technology Corporation.\nAnyone with a valid IU network ID can download the software packages which are available at www.iuware.indiana.edu/. Features available from the system include Web browsers such as Firefox and Internet Explorer, security software such as Symantec Antivirus and Spybot, Microsoft Office programs and graphics software, such as Adobe Photoshop.\nIUware Online has been modified and new features have been added in the past few years, such as better graphics, more logging and monitoring, and identification management that helps authenticate the user, Workman said.\nIUware Online has different applications available within its system, Workman said. The user software distribution application allows students and faculty to access the available software. The administrative application monitors the service in terms of how many applications are downloaded per day, which is the most popular software and which programs are not being used. The site administration application also includes a security feature, which each institution can authenticate to meet its needs, Workman said.