IPSWICH, Mass. — February 1, 2018 — EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) and ByWater Solutions have expanded their relationship to ensure libraries adopting the FOLIO Library Services Platform (LSP) will be able to rely on hosting and services support.
The agreement secures ByWater’s commitment to provide FOLIO implementation and support services backed by EBSCO hosting technology and data services. ByWater Solutions has been recognized for its customer satisfaction in supporting library systems and is currently the largest service provider for the Koha Open Source Library System supporting more than 1,000 Koha libraries.
ByWater Solutions co-owner and Chief Executive Officer Brendan Gallagher says the ByWater team will work with EBSCO to provide support for its libraries using FOLIO as their library services platform or looking to add FOLIO microservices or apps to their current systems. “Open source services allow libraries to save money on the technology and focus on service and customer support. By extending our expertise, and leveraging EBSCO’s services, we expect to help libraries implement FOLIO and migrate libraries to the FOLIO LSP and provide ongoing support.”
EBSCO, which has supported FOLIO with funding, developers and project management as well as provided funding for Koha, will provide FOLIO hosting services and advanced software support as well as a compliment of data integration services. EBSCO Vice President of Services Product Management Ron Burns says these agreements give EBSCO the opportunity to create a high level of customer service standards. “As we move to the next phase, where beta sites are actively testing FOLIO, we want to ensure that service providers such as EBSCO and ByWater come together to create technical support structures, migration plans and implementation goals. As FOLIO becomes a reality, service providers are going to create the foundation needed to allow the adoption of open source systems and the expansion of FOLIO into multiple types and sizes of libraries.”
ByWater and EBSCO will be working together and with the FOLIO community to support the first libraries going live with FOLIO in 2019.
Since being announced in June 2016, FOLIO has formed a community and librarians and developers have joined special interest groups that are actively creating an open source LSP that supports traditional resource management functionality that can be extended into emerging areas. FOLIO is being designed to be flexible to allow librarians to select the applications that best align with their workflow needs. The applications are modular and allow multiple vendors or libraries to contribute applications. Extensibility is an essential element allowing FOLIO to integrate with internal and external systems including university enterprise systems, institutional repositories, research management and discovery services. Development supports Linked Open Data to allow libraries to expand their reach and FOLIO provides scalability through multi-tenancy. The service will support all formats natively and is based on a central knowledgebase. More information is available at www.folio.org.
About EBSCO Information Services
EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) is the leading discovery service provider for libraries worldwide with more than 11,000 discovery customers in over 100 countries. EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS) provides each institution with a comprehensive, single search box for its entire collection, offering unparalleled relevance ranking quality and extensive customization. EBSCO is also the preeminent provider of online research content for libraries, including hundreds of research databases, historical archives, point-of-care medical reference, and corporate learning tools serving millions of end users at tens of thousands of institutions. EBSCO is the leading provider of electronic journals & books for libraries, with subscription management for more than 360,000 serials, including more than 57,000 e-journals, as well as online access to more than 1,000,000 e-books. For more information, visit the EBSCO website at: www.ebsco.com. EBSCO Information Services is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., a family owned company since 1944.
For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Vice President of Communications
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebsco.com
About ByWater Solutions
ByWater Solutions is a full service, high quality open source support and implementation company dedicated to providing libraries with a lower cost, more advanced level of support for their ILS than a traditional proprietary solution can offer. ByWater Solutions has a proven track record in first rate Koha implementation and support with library systems of all sizes. Our highly ranked, comprehensive support is what sets our company apart from any other vendor in the industry. Partnering with ByWater Solutions for Koha or Folio support not only lowers the cost of implementing and maintaining an ILS, but more importantly empowers libraries by giving them the flexibility and freedom they deserve. For more information please visit: http://bywatersolutions.com/.
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For more information, please contact:
Nathan Curulla
Owner/CRO, ByWater Solutions
(888) 900-8944 ext. 2
nate@bywatersolutions.com
