Software Licensing Service
One of the services being provided by the National Information Technology Authority-Uganda (NITA-U) to the Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Local Governments (LGs) is Bulk Software Licensing.
The provision of bulk software Licensing is based on the Fifth Strategy for Rationalization of Information Technology (IT) Services which was approved by Cabinet in 2012.
CURRENT STATUS
NITA-U, acting on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Uganda, in line with the Fifth Strategy for Rationalization of I.T Services in Government has negotiated Global Agreements with Multinational Software Companies namely;
1. Microsoft
In 2013, the NITA-U through an Enterprise Direct Advisor (EDA) carried out a comprehensive assessment of software licensing state and utilization across Government Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs). The objective of the assessment were:
(i) To determine Government of Uganda licensing expenditure
(ii) To determine the number of MDAs that were engaged with Microsoft
(iii) To provide the quantities of licenses consumed per year
(iv) To provide cost saving that will arise from the consolidation of the disparate licenses
The assessments identified the following key challenges that were inherent in the management of Software licensing and Application for the Government of Uganda and needed to be addressed.
(i) High government expenditure on software licenses due to retail purchases
(ii) Minimal manufacturers’ after-sale services (i.e. Premium services and software assurance benefits.)
(iii) Poor management of software licenses i.e. poor monitoring and interpretation of license terms and conditions
(iv) Rampant Software and applications piracy – Expensive if legal proceedings are opened against offenders.
(v) Low exploration and exploitation of the benefits of free open source software
In light of the above, NITA-U negotiated and signed the Microsoft Business and Services Agreement (MBSA) with Microsoft to provide bulk licensing of Software and Application for Government Institutions
2. Oracle
The NITA-U on behalf of Government of Uganda has completed the negotiations and signing of an agreement with Oracle Corporation to provide bulk licensing of Oracle Software and Systems for Government Institutions. The Oracle software once acquired, will be owned perpetually by the Government and only attract an annual support fee of 22% per unit.
The discounted prices were negotiated after NITA-U carried out a survey in 2012 to all the 12 MDAs that use Oracle and discovered that Government was paying over USD31m per year.
BENEFITS
- Discounted product prices due to economies of scale arising from bulk purchase. The baseline discount on Oracle Products is at 40%
- Discounted support costs due to economies of scale arising from bulk purchase. The baseline discount on Oracle support is at 22%
- Harmonized prices across Government for selected Software Products.
PROCESS OF ONBOARDING MDAs ONTO THE MASTER BUSINESS AND SERVICES AGREEMENT (MBSA)
- MDA requests for Microsoft Software Licenses
- If the MDA has less than 250 Users:
- NITA-U shares a quotation with the MDA in line with the requirements in (1) above
- Upon approval of the Quotation, an MOU between NITA-U and the MDA is drafted and dispatched to the MDA for signature.
- Once the MOU is signed by the MDA and returned to NITA-U Headquarters, NITA-U in turn appends a their signature.
- A copy of the signed MOU, Software Product(s), License Keys and the Invoice are sent to the MDA
3. If the MDA has at least 250 Users, the MDA contacts Microsoft but uses the negotiated prices as a baseline for further negotiation* if any.
*Important to note here is the fact that NITA-U has already negotiated the Global Agreement, therefore MDAs will not be entering into new Enterprise Agreements but rather Enterprise Subscription Enrollment Agreements that are specific to the MDA requirements.
Kindly contact NITA-U in case further clarification is required.
