Hosted library services; clouds with silver linings

Software as a Service (SaaS) is becoming increasingly common as a delivery method for many software products. The Glucksman Library at the University of Limerick (UL) was the first university library in Ireland to move its library management system (LMS) from locally held servers to the vendor-hosted cloud. During the previous decade UL had increasingly relied on the LMS as a source of both efficiencies and integrations with other enterprise university systems. The move to the cloud allowed us to focus more resolutely on service improvements rather than systems administration. Driven by the cost-saving mandate of the higher education authorities in Ireland and by our commitment to service improvement in our library, we engaged with a trusted vendor and a proven technology to move our services forward and explore new uses of staff time at the University of Limerick.