Abstract
This roundtable will focus on postimplementation strategies to minimize the costs and risks of maintaining large commercial software packages. The very features that make them attractive--high integration and distribution/segregation of processes--make self-support difficult and expensive. Consequently, schools depend on vendors with the corresponding costs and risks. Among the options are joining consortiums, customizing to reduce reliance on vendors, replacing components with best-of-breed solutions, and vendor application hosting.