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University of Reading

Tips for trialling and buying software

Wednesday, 09 March 2016

Tips for trialling and buying software

Technology is essential to the work and research we undertake as a University- we couldn’t carry out our world-leading work without a wide range of software and systems, with many Departments and Schools needing very specialist software. 

The IT and Procurement teams are keen to support this work, whilst ensuring that the University and individuals are protected from potential risks.

Procurement of software or application systems in excess of £25,000 (including implementation costs e.g. project management, consultancy) requires prior approval by the Information Systems Management Group (ISMG) chaired by David Savage, but lower-value purchases and even free trials need to follow appropriate processes too. Contact your IT Business Partner if you have a requirement that you think will need to go to the ISMG.

Here are some things that you need to consider when you want to buy or trial software:

  • Whatever your requirements, contact IT first so that they can support you, via the Service Desk. IT will check whether the University already owns something suitable or has appropriate licence agreements in place. This could save you money and/or enable you to start using appropriate software sooner.
  • You also need to check with IT about the data storage and data protection implications of the software. If suppliers are unable to satisfy our security-related non-functional requirements and the necessary contractual protections have not been put in place, the University could face fines (£500,000 or more), legal action from individuals and reputation damage if there is a subsequent data breach. 
  • IT will also assess any ongoing maintenance and support requirements for your software, to make sure that the necessary arrangements are in place. This will save you time if problems arise in the future.

Even free trials of software and services can pose risks. For example, you may not notice that you have to take action to cancel the software at the end of the trial period, you may have committed to a contract without realising it or there may be a risk associated with data handling.

For further details and information about how to protect yourself and the University, visit the IT software page here.