4 ms·

> It was pointed out that the over $1 million a year given to Microsoft could be used to implement those features in the open source tools and it wouldn't take

> It was pointed out that the over $1 million a year given to Microsoft could be used to implement those features in the open source tools and it wouldn't take long to get there. $1 million to implement the features sure, but what about actually hosting and administering the open source software? On call engineers aren't cheap and it's going to break on finals week.

_revy 6y ago
Don't most universities host their own software?
- alistairSH 6y ago
  It’s a mix. Current ERP solutions for higher ed are offered self-hosted or SaaS. Ancillary solutions are moving quickly towards SaaS only. Larger R1 schools are more likely to have solutions they built entirely in-house. Most schools have highly customized versions of COTS products. Source: I work for a leading supplier of those solutions.
- larrywright 6y ago
  I’m not sure about most, perhaps some do but the ones I’m aware of are using Office365 or similar.
- smt88 6y ago
  A few years ago they did, but Google, Microsoft, and some of the cloud LMS companies have started to shift them onto the cloud. As someone who had a university IT dept as a client, it's honestly much better for the school. University IT is almost universally a disaster and bottleneck.
- protomyth 6y ago
  LMS we still host (Moodle), but student registration is just cheaper and easier to get a company to host (We use Empower). I've noticed even the strapped for money TCUs have hosted LMS more often than not. We went against the grain on that one. Office365 is just so cheap for students (The e-mail is free if you just use that) that it makes total sense to pick that.
_fat_santa 6y ago
I was going to say this. Developing an LMS or really any tool is not cheap. You would be saving $1M/yr from MS but paying out $2M/yr in dev costs.
- MayeulC 6y ago
  You do not necessarily need to hire these devs yourself, though. It can be managed by the legal entity overseeing regular development, like the LibreOffice foundation.

_revy 6y ago

Don't most universities host their own software?

alistairSH 6y ago
It’s a mix. Current ERP solutions for higher ed are offered self-hosted or SaaS. Ancillary solutions are moving quickly towards SaaS only. Larger R1 schools are more likely to have solutions they built entirely in-house. Most schools have highly customized versions of COTS products. Source: I work for a leading supplier of those solutions.
larrywright 6y ago
I’m not sure about most, perhaps some do but the ones I’m aware of are using Office365 or similar.
smt88 6y ago
A few years ago they did, but Google, Microsoft, and some of the cloud LMS companies have started to shift them onto the cloud. As someone who had a university IT dept as a client, it's honestly much better for the school. University IT is almost universally a disaster and bottleneck.
protomyth 6y ago
LMS we still host (Moodle), but student registration is just cheaper and easier to get a company to host (We use Empower). I've noticed even the strapped for money TCUs have hosted LMS more often than not. We went against the grain on that one. Office365 is just so cheap for students (The e-mail is free if you just use that) that it makes total sense to pick that.

_fat_santa 6y ago

I was going to say this. Developing an LMS or really any tool is not cheap. You would be saving $1M/yr from MS but paying out $2M/yr in dev costs.

MayeulC 6y ago
You do not necessarily need to hire these devs yourself, though. It can be managed by the legal entity overseeing regular development, like the LibreOffice foundation.