In IOI’s State of Open Infrastructure 2024, we explored “Graceful Transitions”, highlighting the difficult decisions that open infrastructure organizations must navigate on the journey to long-term sustainability. Jisc's announcement of the retirement of the Institutional Repository Usage Statistics (IRUS) service provided a timely example of how these decisions unfold in practice. IOI's Lauren Collister spoke with John Kaye, Head of Product at Jisc, about IRUS's history, the decision-making process behind its retirement, and the lessons learned along the way.
Note: This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity and readability.
Looking Back: The Story of IRUS
Lauren Collister: John, can you tell us a bit about IRUS—how it started, and some key moments in its history?
John Kaye: IRUS began in 2012 as a Jisc-funded collaboration, initially led by Mimas at the University of Manchester, with partners at Cranfield and Birmingham Universities. Its purpose was to collect, filter, and standardize usage data from institutional repositories, making these statistics comparable across institutions. The service grew rapidly—from 12 repositories in its first year to 222 by 2025, including international partners in the US, Australia, and New Zealand. Major milestones included integrating research data repository usage in 2020 and developing strong partnerships with repository platforms like DSpace, EPrints, Figshare, and PURE.
The Decision to Retire IRUS
Lauren Collister: Jisc has decided to retire IRUS, which you announced on 2 September. How did your team arrive at this decision, and what factors contributed?
John Kaye: We operate two COUNTER-compliant metrics services: IRUS for institutional repositories and JUSP (Journal Usage Statistics Portal) for publisher website usage. Both needed significant upgrades to meet the latest standards (COUNTER 5.1), and the technical debt was substantial. After reviewing both services and consulting with our members, it became clear that JUSP was business-critical—especially for publisher negotiations—while IRUS, though providing valuable and interesting data, was not essential for daily operations.
Additionally, the ecosystem has evolved. OpenAIRE now offers a robust, well-established alternative that serves more customers and is already required for UK institutions seeking European funding compliance. OpenAIRE welcomed UK repositories at no extra cost, providing a clear migration path. When we examined alternatives for JUSP, the ecosystem was less robust, with only commercial providers offering some of the options. With limited resources, our priority had to be investing in JUSP because it was what our members identified as the more essential of the two resources.
Managing the Sunsetting Process
Lauren Collister: What were the main questions and tasks you faced as you began winding down IRUS?
John Kaye: Our biggest concern was how retirement would affect end users. We focused on ensuring a smooth migration to OpenAIRE and minimizing technical burdens. That included work such as addressing differences between IRUS (which makes data openly available) and OpenAIRE (which has a more institution-specific data relationship). We also aimed to provide clear, actionable communication and support resources to help our members with the transition.
We also needed to plan for the legacy of IRUS data. IRUS now collects between 2 and 6 million usage events per day, which means we have amassed a substantial amount of data over the years. We want to make that historical data accessible for use, with appropriate archiving and documentation.
And finally, we implemented several internal changes, including team restructuring and reallocating resources and effort to support this move.
Internal Reflections and Lessons Learned
Lauren Collister: Were there internal considerations about your team, documentation, or processes that shaped this transition?
John Kaye: Absolutely. The IRUS team had strong ownership and investment in the service, so the transition involved bringing them along on the journey and integrating them into a broader portfolio of services. Our internal product lifecycle management process, which covers everything from prototyping to sunsetting, guided the transition. We conducted multiple reviews and business cases with senior leadership, and we're incorporating lessons learned—especially those related to technical debt—into future iterations. Regularly reviewing and managing technical debt is a key takeaway; letting it accumulate made this transition more challenging.
Community Engagement and Response
Lauren Collister: How did the user community react, and what does their future look like?
John Kaye: We consulted with representative bodies in the UK Repositories community, as well as individual universities. The response has been largely positive, especially since OpenAIRE is a well-known, trusted international service. Many institutions were already considering or working on OpenAIRE integration as part of European-funded projects, so the timing was beneficial. We’ve worked closely with the community to refine migration guidance and FAQs, ensuring no major issues are missed.
Advice for Others Facing Service Retirement
Lauren Collister: What advice would you offer to others who might face a similar decision?
John Kaye: Here is what I would suggest:
- Focus on the problem, not the solution: Revisit the core problem you’re solving, as needs and priorities change.
- Landscape review: Regularly assess the existing ecosystem to avoid duplication and identify potential partnership opportunities.
- Transparency: Be open with your user base about challenges and reasons behind decisions, so changes don’t come as a surprise.
- Support transitions: Invest in a well-supported, user-focused migration process that provides clear guidance and resources.
- Empower technical voices: Make sure technical staff are heard and can advocate for necessary changes.
- Continuous improvement: Feed lessons learned back into your internal processes, especially regarding technical debt and lifecycle management. Having an internal process that includes being reviewed by others in your organization can help identify different options and ensure that you consider multiple angles.
Lauren Collister: Any final thoughts for readers as you reflect on your experience?
John Kaye: Proactive planning, open communication, and continuous learning are all essential to managing this transition responsibly and effectively. We knew that retiring IRUS isn’t just about the end of a service; it is about stewarding the community toward more sustainable, internationally aligned infrastructure.
If you are considering or actively managing an infrastructure transition, IOI is interested in your story. Whether we can highlight your efforts in a blog post or provide strategic support services to help navigate the process, we encourage you to contact us.