1. New deadline for ending RI support of software – 31 December 2008
Based on feedback from clubs and districts, RI will continue to provide support to users of the standalone versions of the software until the end of the calendar year, 31 December 2008. This means that Rotarians will still be able to download the software from Rotary’s Web site, purchase it from the catalog, and discuss issues on the CAS/DAS forum on Member Access until 31 December 2008.

2. New deadline for online users of RI-CAS/RI-DAS – 30 September 2008
RI will continue hosting the online RI-CAS/RI-DAS versions until 30 September 2008. Web access for online users will not be available on 1 October and thereafter. Correspondingly, software support will continue for standalone users that have downloaded their online data to a standalone version of the software through 31 December 2008. Doing so allows three months of support to former online users to adjust to the standalone software version. RI is still investigating if another entity would be able to host the site at a reasonable fee basis to online users. We will announce the results about the viability of this option in early June 2008.

3. Other software alternatives to RI-CAS and RI-DAS
While RI cannot endorse or recommend another product, we have posted a list of several Web sites offering club administrative software tools for Rotarians. This list is not exhaustive, but can be used as a starting point to assist Rotarians in locating alternate software.

4. Archiving RI-CAS and RI-DAS knowledge-base
All of the information in the CAS and DAS User Forum will be converted to a PDF file on Rotary’s Web site so that Rotarians can search it for information. No new questions or changes will be permitted to this file after 31 December 2008.

5. Synchronization of Rotary club data with RI data
Rotary International would like to provide the ability to synchronize data between the club and RI, but there are a number of issues that need to be resolved first. Protecting the privacy of our members’ data is a key concern and worldwide privacy laws are complex. Many such legal questions would need to be addressed prior to deciding to provide this type of data interchange. RI is currently reviewing these issues and will only be able to provide synchronization functionality in the future if it complies with privacy laws worldwide.

6. Other alternative paths suggested by users

• Providing RI-CAS and RI-DAS Source Code
  • Unfortunately, RI does not have working source code for this software.  In software technical terms, this specifically means that the source code will not compile (generate an .exe file).
  • In order for Rotary to release the source code, it would need to spend thousands of dollars to fix the source code and to verify that the code will generate an .exe file that does exactly what the existing RI-CAS and RI-DAS software does today.  In addition, for protection of RI’s trademarks, all references to Rotary would have to be removed from the code, further increasing the costs to update the source code before its release
  • Finally, perhaps the most compelling reason that this option is not viable is that the underlying software technology is over eight years old.  In the software industry, this is considered completely out of date.  Current trends for administrative software have developed in a completely different direction and use different approaches (e.g. online access) to provide this functionality.
• Selling the software to a district, not-for-profit entity, or user group
  • Given the current condition of the source code, it would be a massive undertaking for another group to take the code as is and clean it up as outlined above.  Rotary International is also very concerned about not making the current situation for users worse by providing a sense of false hope.  RI was unable to fully support this software or to promote its widespread use.  Expecting another group to be able to change this situation may be unrealistic.
• Asking another entity to continue Providing support on a fee-basis
  • We have not been able to come up with a workable business model.  RI estimates that there are a total of about 1,000 clubs that use RI-CAS in the United States, Australia, and South Africa.  Given what we know about the need to promote, upgrade, provide training, and support the software, all clubs participating in this type of arrangement would be required to pay a substantial fee on a yearly basis.  Our research has shown that many clubs use RI-CAS because it is so cost-effective (free) for their small club and are not willing to pay a fee to continue using it.

Questions?

Read the RI-CAS/RI-DAS retirement FAQ .

Contact your Club and District Support representative to get your questions answered.