The SPU Information Technology (IT) department, as part of the SPU 135 Technology Workstream process, has been working with the various departments to research and investigate the use of technology on campus. The main objective of this investigation is to find ways to reduce the overall cost of owning, leasing, operating and maintaining technology at SPU. To that end, the Technology Workstream team has been working with many of you to identify technologies currently utilized across campus, and whenever possible consolidate, deprecate, or replace technology-related services.
The investigations that have led to these decisions are campus wide and have uncovered duplicated or lower-cost technology options across most departments. However, the following technologies are specifically named in this communication because of the broad impact these have to the campus community at large. After reviewing contracts and researching costs to the institution, the following technologies have been identified as duplicates of existing services and will be discontinued at the end of this fiscal year, June 30th, 2024. As more details become available, we will add technologies to this list. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to help@spu.edu.
Technology Name | Technology Purpose | Recommended Alternatives | Primary Groups Impacted |
---|---|---|---|
Zoom | Online Meetings, Webinars and Recordings | Microsoft Teams | Faculty, Staff, and Students |
Formstack | Web Forms | Microsoft Forms | University Communications, Staff & Specific Departments |
Poll Everywhere | Active/Live Polling and Feedback | Microsoft Forms, Microsoft Teams Polling | Faculty & Some Staff |
SPSS | Statistics & Data Analysis | R+ or RStudio, Power BI | Specific Programs & Some Students |
LabStats | Academic Machine Reporting and Remote Computer Access | Limiting Licenses & Move to Virtual Machines | IT & Some Faculty & Staff |
PRTG Support & Maintenance | Notifications when IT Managed devices are offline | Move to an unsupported license and research replacement tools this next fiscal year. | IT |
Scantron Support | Scoring and Analysing Exam Responses | Support contract expires and low use, will look into alternative technologies this next year. | Some Faculty |
Minitab | Software used for teaching | No longer needed | Faculty |