| UK government report gives nod to open source |
Oct. 28, 2004
Following a year-long pilot program to study the viability of using Open Source Software across central government departments and the public sector in the UK, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) today published its report. The group's findings urged governments to consider open source when implementing new systems or refreshing hardware.
"These pilots have provided us with valuable evidence on Open Source Software. They show it could support government bodies by offering efficient and cost-effective IT solutions," said OGC Chief Executive, John Oughton in a statement.
Report findings include: - open source software is now a viable Desktop alternative for the majority of government users
- interoperability is not a "major issue" for the majority of government users
- open source can generate significant savings with server consolidation and delaying hardware replacement
- potential recycling benefits are gained by extending hardware life and through the reduction of waste/disposal/landfill
- decisions to use software in government should be based on "a holistic assessment of future needs," and recommends looking at total cost of ownership and both proprietary and open source solutions
IBM and Sun Microsystems participated in the evaluation, according to OCG. Nine "live" Linux pilots began last October to evaluate how much money government agencies can save by switching to open source software (OSS).
OCG says that it is beginning to see strong OSS alternatives for desktop and personal productivity software, expecting that trend to accelerate. The report points to the over 30 million downloads of OpenOffice.org desktop software. Trial sites in the study reported that either OpenOffice.org or Sun's StarOffice is adequate for transaction users, and accomodates 85-90 percent of desktop users. Migration and interoperability of complex files, too, has "improved significantly," according to the data.
Challenges of a switch to open source, according to the study, included the "adoption of open source, particularly for the desktop, requires investment in planning, training of users, development of skills for implementation and support, and detailed consideration of migration and interoperability issues."
The report offers cost savings reports from the testing sites. Data from the West Sussex County Council test site concluded that the Linux system was similar in price to the Windows system, though it was around £480,000 cheaper than the Sun system. The report noted that the cost of Sun hardware contributed to the totals, so it "may not count as an open source saving." The city council selected Linux as a more reliable and stable platform than Windows.
West Sussex also found that it required four fewer servers than would have been the case using Windows, resulting in an estimated savings of £34,000.
OCG's report concluded that open source provided a "viable and credible alternative to proprietary software" for the UK public sector.
The full report is available on OCG'swebsite.
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