Monday, September 9, 2002

Macromedia Cuts Prices for Volume Purchases by Colleges By FLORENCE OLSEN Macromedia Inc. has introduced steeper discounts in its volume-licensing programs for colleges, partly in response to a growing demand for affordable software to build Web pages, company officials said on Friday. Colleges that buy Macromedia products through companies known as resellers will be eligible for a new level of volume discounts if they buy more than 500 software licenses. Another change extends the volume discounts to Macromedia's server products and to its online courses and training services. The changes took effect late last month. Macromedia's software is popular on campuses. The company's flagship software, Dreamweaver MX, is a visual tool for building Web pages and has a standard academic-discount price of $99. Under Macromedia's new plan, the cost could be halved under some circumstances. The company's Macromedia Studio MX, an integrated collection of five Macromedia products for creating Web pages with graphics, animation, and interactive database applications, for $199, also is among the most frequently purchased software packages at college stores. Macromedia also announced deeper discounts in its direct volume-licensing program. That plan lets colleges centralize their software buying at prices that are locked in for two years. Frances Himes, associate vice president for higher education at Macromedia, said the company does not publish its prices under the program. Under the direct volume-licensing program with Macromedia, the Indiana University system has negotiated a one-year renewable contract for $500,000 worth of Web-design products and services "at a greatly reduced cost" to any student or faculty or staff member at any one of the university's eight campuses, said Sue B. Workman, director of teaching and learning information technologies at the university's Bloomington campus. Many faculty members now have Web pages for courses they teach, Ms. Workman said, and students are frequently asked to create Web pages as course assignments. Under the new licensing rules, Macromedia's direct-licensing and reseller programs are now point-based plans that offer volume discounts on any combination of software licenses, product upgrades, software maintenance, technical support, and training. "Almost every software vendor has moved to a points program for volume licensing," said Mike T. Xenakis, Macromedia's senior director for education and government sales. Discount levels are based on point values assigned to each product or service. Colleges that submit a purchase order worth 200 to 499 points would pay, for example, $51 for a license for Dreamweaver MX. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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