STUDY OF ADOBE LICENSING OPTIONS:

AN ANALYTICAL REPORT

Prepared for: Dr. Sam Dragga, Chair

Department of English, Texas Tech University

Prepared by: K. C. Bunn

Jessica Dameron
Joshua Luke
Shannon Crossland

June 30, 2004

 Abstract

“Study of Adobe Licensing Options: An Analytical Report”

Prepared by: K. C. Dunn

Jessica Dameron
Joshua Luke
Shannon Crossland

On June 20, 2004, we received approval for our proposal to research Adobe licensing
options for the Department of English at Texas Tech University. The expanding student
body at Texas Tech University creates a larger demand for services offered by the
university, specifically as computer facilities. Areas researched included projecting the
analysis of license usage from 2003 – 2013 based on credit hours per semester vs.
number of students and evaluating the cost of common Adobe licenses vs. point values
awarded per license purchased. Based on our research, we have found that Adobe’s
licensing programs are based on a point system. Each type of software license is assigned
a different point value, and based on the program chosen by the company a certain
amount of points must be accumulated in order to receive the discounted price. Because
of growing student concerns, the Department of English at Texas Tech University might
consider investing more money into computer software for the benefit of the students or
simply reevaluate student enrollment in the future.

Keywords: Texas Tech University, Department of English, Adobe, license,

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 Contents

Abstract...............................................................................................................................ii

Executive Summary............................................................................................................1

Introduction.........................................................................................................................2

Research Methods...............................................................................................................3

Results ................................................................................................................................5

Conclusions.........................................................................................................................7

References...........................................................................................................................8

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 Executive Summary

Texas Tech University has an ongoing reputation of providing quality products and services to its
students. Because of this reputation, Texas Tech’s student body population expands annually.
Due to this increase in the student body population, the ratio of students to computers
proportionally increases. Our expanded student body creates a larger demand for services offered
by the university, specifically as computer facilities. As a result, we are not offering the best
service we can to our students, as students are forced to wait until a license is available for them
to use.

Currently, in a lab of 20 computers, there are four available licenses. If multiplied to represent
the 2,500 computers on the Texas Tech campus, there are no more than 500 licenses available at
any given time. Most students at the University prefer to use the computer labs for work
involving programs with licenses rather than purchasing the licenses themselves because they are
paying fees for these products in their tuition already.

Our team interviewed Chuck Claunch, a former employee of the Information Technology
department about the computers on campus. His estimate is that across the Texas Tech campus,
there are approximately 5,000 computers, half of which are privately owned by students and on
campus residents. This means that there are about 2,500 public access computers on campus that
potentially need licensing of programs such as those offered by Adobe.

Based on this data, we researched the projected analysis of license usage from 2003 – 2013
based on credit hours per semester vs. number of students and evaluated the cost of common
adobe licenses vs. point values awarded per license purchased.

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 Introduction

On June 20, 2004, we received approval for our proposal to research Adobe licensing options for
the Department of English at Texas Tech University. Our proposal was based on both students’
necessities and our personal observations with regard to purchasing more Adobe licenses for the
software that is already installed on the computers in the Department of English at Texas Tech
University. Because of growing student concerns, the Department of English at Texas Tech
University needs to invest more money into computer software for the benefit of the students.

This analytical report presents the findings of our research. We calculated the projected analysis
of license usage from 2003 – 2013 based on credit hours per semester vs. number of students,
and evaluated the cost of common adobe licenses vs. point values awarded per license purchased.

Because of Texas Tech’s successes as an institution of higher education, more and more students
are choosing to study here in Lubbock. Due to the increases in student population, more students
are in need of electronic services offered by the Department of English. In one English class in
June, in a class of 20 students, students were introduced to Adobe PageMaker. As the students
went to open the application, 16 of them were met with error messages stating that all licenses
for this product were in use, and that they would be placed on a waiting list until another user
was done with the program.

Due to the lack of Adobe licenses to satisfy all of the student’s needs, a few of the students began
commenting on the lack of needed resources, and decided that it was unfair to the students to use
up their time waiting in a line. The fact that a course fee of $24 was added for this particular
course to cover costs such as these angered a few of the students even more. We then began
researching the price of purchasing more Adobe licenses for the Department of English at Texas
Tech University.

Upon researching, we have outlined several options for improving or maintaining the Adobe
licensing program for the Department of English at Texas Tech University. Our first two options
require additional funding which could be provided by increased laboratory fees or allocations in
the department’s budget. Alternatively, our last option calls for no change; therefore, while there
is no need for additional funding, future evaluations of annual enrollment within the department
may be necessary.

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 Research Methods

We performed the following research for determining the best option Adobe licensing options for
the Department of English at Texas Tech University:

1. Figure 1, Task Schedule, illustrates the steps we utilized for our research options.

Submit completion report

Construct completion
report
Interview English
personnel
Present Proposal
Preliminary research
Preliminary Outline

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1
June July
Figure 1: Task Schedule

2. To establish an estimate of the number of computers on campus, our team interviewed Chuck
Claunch, a former employee of the Information Technology Department His estimate is that
across the Texas Tech campus, there are approximately 5,000 computers, half of which are
privately owned by students and on campus residents. This means that there are about 2,500
public access computers on campus that potentially need licensing of programs such as those
offered by Adobe.

3. From the English department website (www.english.ttu.edu), we acquired the number of

credit hours at Texas Tech University taken by students in the English building. To calculate
the number of licenses needed, we assumed that the classroom credit hour of each class was
three hours. To get the number of licenses, we then assumed that there were six evenly
distributed class periods during the day. Dividing the number of students by six will then give
the number of licenses needed. To project the data, we took the past five years of student data
and found the percent of increase or decrease. This percent was averaged and used as a
percent growth over time. The data was then projected and analyzed as before.

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 Year Credit Hours Per Semester Number of Students ¹ Licenses Needed ²
2003 21190 7063 1177
2004 22487 7496 1249
2005 23863 7954 1326
2006 25323 8441 1407
2007 26873 8958 1493
2008 28518 9506 1584
2009 30263 10088 1681
2010 32115 10705 1784
2011 34081 11360 1893
2012 36166 12055 2009
2013 38380 12793 2132
Note 1. Number of students is determined by an average of three credit hours per student
Note 2. Licenses are determined by assuming six classes distributed throughout the school day
Figure 2: Projected Analysis of License Usage

4. To establish which Adobe licenses would be more beneficial for the Department of English,
we researched the Adobe website and evaluated the products they offered. Adobe has a
program called a Contractual Licensing Program that allows for institutions such as
universities to purchase licenses in large volume, in turn granting them up to 50% off the shelf
price of the individual product/license package. The program works by a point system. Each
type of software license is assigned a point value, and in order to receive the discount, a
university must purchase in 1000-point intervals. Licenses for products range between one
and six points apiece, and each license can cost as little as $99.

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 Results

In this section, we present the findings of our research for Adobe licensing products. We cover
the licensing point system, licensing options, and costs of common Adobe licenses.

1. Adobe Licensing Point System

Based on our research, we have found that Adobe’s licensing programs are based on a point
system. Each type of software license is assigned a different point value, and based on the
program chosen by the company a certain amount of points must be accumulated in order to
receive the discounted price. Below we have included the different types of programs, and the
respective point values that the company must acquire to receive the discount, as well as an
external alternative.

2. Adobe Licensing Options

Option 1:
According to our research, the option of the Contractual License Program (CLP) offers the
opportunity of simplifying the administration of software through a single licensing agreement.
In order to receive the appropriate 65% discount, as an institution we are required to reach a
minimum of 1,000 points. This option allows for the mixing and matching of software products.

Option 2:
As researched, the Adobe Open Options Transactional License Program (TLP) allows for
separate evaluations of each transaction and then applies the appropriate discount accordingly.
The benefit of using this program is that it is only necessary to acquire 20 points per transaction.
Through this, we are then able to save approximately 50% on the cost of licensing of most Adobe
products. As in option 1, the TLP also allows for the mixing and matching of products.

Option 3:
Yet another alternative is to leave our current license agreement as is. Students can simply share
the licenses and upon greater need the department may reevaluate the need of the students to
have greater accessibility. This is a risky and less proactive option, yet when comparing funding
versus necessity it must be included as a worthy alternative.

3. Cost of Common Adobe Licenses vs. Point Values

While researching Adobe licenses, we selected the applications which would be most beneficial
to the students at Texas Tech University. Combined with further research, we determined the
price of each Adobe application. Figure 3, Adobe Applications, Costs, and Points Awarded,
illustrates the cost of common Adobe licenses vs. point values.

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 Name of Application Cost per license Points per license
Adobe PageMaker® $289 2
Adobe Photoshop CS® $299 2
Adobe Acrobat® $99 1
Adobe Creative Suite Pro® $399 6
Figure 3. Adobe Applications, Costs, and Points Awarded

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 Conclusions

Based on our results, all of the Adobe licensing options meet the needs of the Department of
English and more importantly, the needs of the students of Texas Tech University. For the Adobe
licensing program, Option 1 would be beneficial because it would allow for a large number and
variety of licenses to be purchased at one time to immediately address student needs. Option 2
would fulfill the needs of our current and future study body by allowing licenses to be purchased
over an extended period of time to alleviate budget concerns. Alternatively, Option 3 allows the
department to refrain from hasty spending while keeping in mind the possibility for future
expenditures. Because of the point system allocated for purchasing Adobe software licenses, the
costs of Options 1 and 2 would be minimal compared to the benefit it would provide not only for
the students of Texas Tech, but also for the Department of English.

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References

“Adobe Education pricing.” Adobe Online. 16 June 2004.

<http://www.adobe.com/education/purchasing/education_pricing.html>

Claunch, Chuck. Former Employee, Information Technology, Texas Tech

University. Personal Interview. 17 June 2004.

“Open Options: Contractual License Program (CLP).” Adobe Online. 16 June 2004.
<www.adobe.com/education/purchasing/clp.html>

“Open Options: Volume Licensing for Educational Institutions.” Adobe

Online. 16 June 2004. <www.adobe.com/education/purchasing/licensing_program.html>