IT and Multimedia Group

Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences

Software Policy

The Faculty IT Committee, with the support of the Faculty Executive, has approved the following policy on the purchase and use of computer software. This policy is in accordance with the University level policy adopted by ITS Division.

Why have this Policy ?

The Faculty aims to ensure that staff and students operate with technology that appropriately addresses their IT needs.

A hardware purchasing and leasing policy has been released, and is now complemented by the release of this software policy.

The purpose of this policy is to specify the software that is supported by the University and the Faculty, and to provide an ongoing structure for the approval of additional software required by Faculty staff and students.

By achieving a level of standardisation across the Faculty, it is anticipated that gains will be in terms of :

• reduced support costs;
• a more stable IT environment with increased network reliability;
• enabling the University as a whole to benefit from volume discounts.

In addition, increased standardisation will :

• deliver shorter service response times as the technical support staff will be familiar with the preferred software. Upgrading and customisation of operating systems and applications becomes a more streamlined operation.
• back end services, including, purchasing and licence management benefit from a standardised operating environment, reducing administrative overheads.

At the outset, however, it is recognised that in a faculty as diverse the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, there will be requirements for specific software that is beyond the scope of the University/Faculty to formally support.

Authority to introduce a Software Installation Policy

This policy has the support of the Faculty IT Committee and has been approved by the Faculty Executive.

Information Technology staff across the Faculty administer this policy, which is effective for all Faculty computer systems.

University Supported Software

A schedule of current University supported software for staff can be found at :

http://www.its.monash.edu.au/staff/software/

Installation and support of Faculty software

The Faculty’s IT service and support staff are exclusively responsible for installing and supporting all software on Faculty computers. This responsibility set includes :

• office desktop computers;
• faculty laptop computers;
• computer lab student desktop computes;
• telecommuter home computers (provided by the Faculty).

A schedule of current Faculty supported software for staff can be found at :
http://www.med.monash.edu.au/itm/itss/software/guide/

Preferred Software

While it is not possible to restrict users to software on the above schedule, and it is not the intention of this policy to do so, the following should be noted:

• Faculty staff wishing to apply to have unsupported software (that is, software that is not listed in the above University software schedule) loaded onto their computer need to apply via the Faculty wide IT Job Desk (refer address below).
  
  This software, once approved by the local IT Support Group, will be loaded onto the local server.
  
  Note: Where sufficient demand exists for one software package, the Manager, IT and Multimedia will contact the ITS Job Desk with a request to include the software on the University preferred software schedule.
  
• hardware that has been loaded with unlicensed software will have access to the Monash network blocked until the unlicensed software has been removed or proof of a valid license has been sited by Faculty IT Support. (This does not include evaluation software where a 30 day limit applies).
• when support from the Faculty is required for software outside the preferred supplier list, the overall cost of support may be higher.

P2P software

It is the policy of the faculty to remove from the Monash data network any PC found to have peer to peer (P2P) file sharing software installed until such time as the P2P has been removed. If there is a genuine requirement for file sharing please email the Faculty IT & Multimedia Group via jobdesk (http://jobdesk.med.monash.edu.au) for assistance.

Relevant Websites

Software Licensing

Refer to ITS website : http://www.its.monash.edu.au/software/

Software Requests

If a user is to request software for their computer, go to the IT Jobdesk website http://jobdesk.med.monash.edu.au/

Further Information

Any queries on this policy should be directed to: software@med.monash.edu.au or to Mick Foy, Manager IT & Multimedia at: mick.foy@med.monash.edu.au

N A Saunders
24 March 2003