The Office of Technology Services (OTS) is currently populating an online searchable database which consolidates all software information for the university. This resource will serve as the university’s Software Inventory and will function similarly to the university’s A to Z Directory, enabling faculty, staff and students to:
- Easily find and access software titles needed for class or work
- Purchase (if a cost), download and install the software
- Get help with any software-related issues
Benefits of this new resource include:
- Increases efficiency – fewer unnecessary software purchases.
- Saves money – software at a discounted rate or no cost.
- Saves time – all information about software at the university is in one location.
- Provides transparency – ability to see if other departments are using specific software, so they can be contacted with questions. There is also a possibility of sharing licensing costs.
- Improves management – the university can see which software is being used. Widely used software can be considered for campus-wide or shared licensing.
The Software Inventory will be implemented on the new Towson website in January 2016.
Over the next few weeks, OTS will be reaching out to colleges and departments to gather information about software that faculty, staff and students typically install on their personal or office computers for class and work. More details about the project will be communicated in future T3 announcements.
For questions about the Software Inventory, contact Julie Leary at jleary@towson.edu.
