What’s your excuse for not trying OpenOffice.org?

Whether your organization is a die-hard Microsoft shop or is looking for the first opportunity to ditch the Microsoft Windows operating systems and Office productivity suite – or anywhere in between – there is no good reason why someone in your organization should not be keeping an eye on the free and easily downloadable OpenOffice.org productivity suite.

The OpenOffice.org offering

OpenOffice.org software is a productivity suite that includes a word processor, along with a spreadsheet, presentation, and drawing program. It is a direct competitor to Microsoft Office and its well-known components Word, Excel, and PowerPoint* (the analogous OpenOffice.org apps are WRITER, CALC, and IMPRESS). OpenOffice.org apps can use their own open XML file format; can open and save files in Microsoft Office formats; and can save documents in the popular, cross-platform PDF file format.

Other important facts about OpenOffice.org:

• It is open source. OpenOffice.org is open source software, which means, among other things, that anyone can download it for free and examine and enhance its internal software code. For those who wish to redistribute the software for free or for a fee – in its original form or with enhancements – there are two licenses to choose from.
  
  
• Sun donated the original software. Sun Microsystems, a vocal Microsoft competitor, bought a German software company that had originally developed what has now become OpenOffice.org. Sun helped create the independent organization for maintaining and enhancing the suite, and it continues to contribute OpenOffice.org code enhancements.
  
  
• StarOffice is a commercial repackaging of OpenOffice.org. Sun offers its own enhanced version of the suite, called StarOffice, which includes extras, such as a database program and a configuration tool for tasks like disabling certain features for users. While there are no other major commercial versions of OpenOffice.org, there is no reason – beyond the time, money, and interest required – that vendors like IBM, Oracle, or Apple couldn’t offer their own versions.
  
  
• It works on many operating systems. OpenOffice.org 1.1 is available for major operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, Mac OS X (using Apple’s X11 add-on software), and Sun’s Solaris. StarOffice costs $79.95 at retail (Sun charges $25 to $60 for organizations, depending on volume) and is supported on Windows, Linux, and Solaris.

Evaluating OpenOffice.org

We can’t imagine any plausible reason for an organization not to keep its eye on, if not formally evaluate, OpenOffice.org. After all, it’s free, and it’s an alternative to an expensive software suite that is on almost every corporate, nonprofit, educational, and government PC.

But getting excited about a free software alternative is one thing; deciding that it’s viable for your organization is another. When evaluating OpenOffice.org’s applicability to your organization, areas to focus on include:

• Office compatibility. This is easy to test at a high level -- just install OpenOffice.org and open your Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. Look for problems with complex spreadsheets and templates for presentation files. There is no doubt that you will find some compatibility issues, but they should not necessarily doom an OpenOffice.org deployment. Organizations need to balance the benefits of 100% Office compatibility with the overall benefits of a low-cost alternative productivity suite.
  
  Companies that experience minor compatibility issues may want to download a free evaluation copy of StarOffice. Sun says that missing fonts, especially on non-Windows systems, are the cause of many compatibility issues and points out that StarOffice provides additional fonts.
  
  
• Training and support requirements. The cost of training and support is always a huge issue when contemplating a shift to alternative software. Diminished user productivity can wipe out any gains realized from a low-cost competitor. But organizations need to be realistic. Upgrades within the Office family itself require training, too. For example, if companies roll out Office 2003 and implement its document control system, they will have to educate users on how to protect documents and prepare for calls to the support desk when files won’t open.
  
  New Rowley expects OpenOffice.org training to be increasingly available over the next year. Sun offers its own training for StarOffice, and we expect that those supporting OpenOffice.org rollouts, such as IBM, will offer training for both novice productivity suite users and for people accustomed to Office.
  
  
• Software deployment and management. Rolling out software to thousands of desktops and laptops can be an incredibly expensive process. Even if a company finds that OpenOffice.org makes sense from a compatibility and training and support standpoint, a switch could be derailed because of the inability to cost-effectively deploy the suite and then manage the thousands of installations.
  
  Investing in desktop management tools from companies like Sun and Novell may be critical for making the move to OpenOffice.org a viable strategy.

Despite real issues, the benefits are compelling

With many hurdles to overcome to justify moving from Office to OpenOffice.org, why would an organization make the switch? Because OpenOffice.org is:

• Inexpensive to acquire. Acquisition costs are only the tip of the iceberg when buying software. Total cost of ownership (TCO) is a buzzword for finding out what software really costs when you factor in related things like user productivity, training, and support. But while the merits of various TCO models are hotly debated, even Microsoft can’t deny that a free productivity suite – or even one costing $25 for each seat – is not something to ignore.
  
  In addition, for companies that balk at buying a multiyear license from Microsoft to get the best deal on Office, OpenOffice.org will be an attractive alternative.
  
  
• Open for perusal and modification. In an era of worms, viruses, and related security patches, organizations may find comfort in being able to examine the source code of the suite themselves – or relying on countless other vendors and developers to do so for them. Organizations may also be excited by the opportunity to customize the suite by modifying or enhancing the software code.
  
  
• Based on an open file format. Microsoft file formats are de facto standards because of the ubiquity of Office. And while Microsoft provides an optional XML-based file format, it maintains control of that format. In contrast, the default file format for OpenOffice.org is also based on XML but is being shepherded by the vendor-neutral standards group OASIS.

For some people, the fact that OpenOffice.org is not a Microsoft product will be an extremely compelling reason for them to investigate it. In particular, many non-US governments and companies are eager to quit sending millions to Microsoft while having to rely on an American vendor and its proprietary file formats.

Even for die-hard Microsoft shops, OpenOffice.org should be beneficial. Letting your software rep know you are testing OpenOffice.org should help you lower your Office costs -- just like the old trick of placing a competitor’s coffee mug on your desk when the IBM mainframe salesperson stopped by.

Trying out OpenOffice.org is the pragmatic decision

We are not advocating an exodus to OpenOffice.org. Whether it makes sense to use it today – or in two years – in your organization will be determined by your own business and IT criteria. But we are advocating a mass evaluation and effort to experience this alternative productivity suite (or its StarOffice sibling).

Would your organization ignore an offer for free paper and pens? Sometimes offers are too good too be true, and sometimes they come with strings that make them untenable. But occasionally, that too-good-to-be-true deal is in fact a good deal. OpenOffice.org is, at the very least, good enough to download and evaluate for a few hours.

You can certainly bet that Microsoft executives and the Office development team have taken the time to download and examine it, so why not you?

By: Tom Rhinelander

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About Office:

* The Office brand encompasses a wide range of software products (Access, Excel, FrontPage, InfoPath, Live Communications Server, Live Meeting, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Project, Publisher, SharePoint Portal Server, Visio, and Word), but the Office productivity suite -- the latest release is called Office 2003 -- comes with only a few of these applications. While there are a variety of editions, most Office suite configurations include Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Useful links:

OpenOffice.org download page

StarOffice 7 Office Suite download page

Office 2003 Professional Edition Evaluation Kit order form (it will be mailed to you; you must pay for shipping)

Sun Java Desktop System and its siblings battle Microsoft Windows/Office

Last month, Sun Microsystems announced a new software offering called the Sun Java Desktop System (JDS), a bundle of enhanced open source software to compete with Microsoft’s dominant Windows operating system and Office productivity suite.

Most of the business and technology media and analysts seemed unimpressed. Some even said that it was doomed because they considered the product to be a desktop for primarily running Java applications – understandable because of its name. But New Rowley believes that JDS is a significant offering for organizations looking to rein in costs but still empower their workers with essential, electronic tools like word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation programs.

While Sun and its new software bundle won’t take over the Microsoft PC crown alone, next year JDS and a host of nearly identical offerings from other vendors like IBM will begin to bump Microsoft PC products out of significant accounts.

The Java Desktop System offering

The most important aspects of the JDS, which Sun says will be available for early adopters by the end of this year, are that it is:

• A direct competitor to Windows and Office. Sun says that JDS is for PCs up to three-years old and is designed for what it calls transactional workers, such as call center personnel. While we think that it makes sense for Sun to keep expectations low, particularly given the company’s past history of attempting but failing to deliver a Windows/Office competitor, our view is that JDS is a direct Windows/Office competitor for a large number of PC users.
  
  Many Windows users today only require a productivity suite and access to corporate applications. With many corporate applications using a Web front end, only those requiring Windows-only solutions would be excluded.
  
  
• Open source at heart. The JDS bundle includes a version of the Linux operating system that is coupled with the GNOME user interface and Sun’s StarOffice, an enhanced version of the OpenOffice productivity suite. StarOffice includes a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation program that can open and save Microsoft Office files. Sun includes its environment for running Java software on PCs and other computing devices, called J2SE, although it is not the core proposition of JDS -- despite the product’s name.
  
  
• Priced at $100 per user per year. While volume discounts and other incentives often bring the cost of Microsoft products down, the annual subscription for JDS will be hard to beat. It includes the software suite, maintenance, and 60-day installation support for users. In addition, Sun offers the Desktop Trade-Up program which gives a first-year discount to companies using the Java Enterprise System.
  
  Can Microsoft undercut Sun? Sure, but while Microsoft effectively defeated upstart Netscape by giving away the Explorer Web browser, it can’t repeat that strategy to crush Sun; a huge chunk of Microsoft’s massive profits come from the sales of Windows and Office.

JDS is really one of many similar Linux/OpenOffice.org offerings

While JDS will also run on Sun’s own flavor of the UNIX operating system, called Solaris, by the middle of next year, it will be marketed primarily as a Linux desktop and productivity suite. Why is this important? Because it means that Sun, Linux distributors SuSE and Red Hat, and possibly vendors like IBM, EDS, Oracle, and BEA Systems can market a nearly identical offering. These Linux Desktop Alternatives (LDAs) will enable potential buyers, whether companies, governments, educational institutions, or other organizations, to shop around for their core PC software from multiple suppliers.

Will an LDA bundle from Sun or another vendor win a media or analyst software shootout against Windows and Office 2003? The answer depends on the criteria used. For example, Microsoft offerings may score the most points for having a highly integrated product, but potential buyers may be more interested in features like the standards-based file format of an LDA bundle. New Rowley believes that when comparing features that matter to most mainstream computer users, Microsoft and multivendor LDA offerings will soon essentially come out even.

Microsoft will dominate for now, but LDAs have unique advantages

Nobody who understands how slowly desktop changes occur in most organizations expects the LDA approach to take over the PC world in the next couple years. But signs of a sea change are readily available. Microsoft will continue to aggressively fight open source software, such as Linux and OpenOffice, and extol how its products are easier to use and more feature-filled, but there is no way to avoid the fact that open source:

• Will always cost less to buy. Companies that want to can roll their own LDA solutions without incurring any software acquisitions costs, although most firms will choose to hire a third party to help roll out and support the desktop. Yet even this cost is usually significantly less than what Microsoft charges today for Windows and Office licensees.
  
  Microsoft’s fixation on total cost of ownership (TCO) demonstrates that the vendor knows it can’t possibly win an acquisition-cost battle. Its current hope is in convincing buyers that Linux and open source support is more expensive over the long haul. Having conducted numerous TCO studies in the past, we know that trying to prove a TCO case is futile. Increasing LDA expertise, better Linux and open source management tools, and LDA interfaces that mimic Microsoft offerings will dull favorable Microsoft TCO arguments.
  
  
• Lets companies choose their own upgrade paths. Microsoft has been hoping to entice its customers to sign multiyear, subscription-based licensing arrangements that give users access to the latest Microsoft software. The alternative is for companies to buy Microsoft products according to their own time frame but at higher prices. For many technology buyers, using LDAs and controlling the upgrade cycle without incurring extra costs will keep desktop upgrades in line with business needs.
  
  
• Is open to inspection. In this time of catastrophic email worms, proprietary solutions like Microsoft's begin to look risky because only Microsoft has access to and ,therefore, can fix security issues and bugs. Open source, on the other hand, is available for review by everyone – from engineers at Sun to independent developers worldwide. Feature requests, reported bugs, and patch histories are available for perusal and comment by anyone who has the understanding and interest.
  
  
• Is getting very close to “good enough” for the masses. The most threatening issue to Microsoft is the fact that LDAs are almost as good as they really need to be to compete in the PC market. Just as large vendors like IBM took up the reins to make Linux ready for the enterprise, so to will other vendors add capabilities to LDA components that are lagging, such as the GNOME desktop’s file system.
  
  And history shows that “good enough,” when coupled with advantages like lower cost, can win the day. Just ask Apple Macintosh diehards, who lamented throughout the 1990s that Windows was crude and too hard to use by nontechnophiles. This same story is being repeated today, as Microsoft and Windows/Office supporters claim that LDAs aren’t sophisticated enough for the “average user.”

Linux desktops are winning early skirmishes, soon major battles

In several high-profile cases, an LDA alternative has begun to succeed despite fierce Microsoft counterattacks. For example, earlier this year, the city of Munich, Germany, chose to go the Linux desktop route in a much-publicized battle that Microsoft desperately tried to win. Another example is the state of Massachusetts, whose technical leaders have been actively investigating Linux on the desktop. Finally, from a small-business perspective, there is the well-known example of guitar string manufacturer Ernie Ball dumping all Microsoft products and using Red Hat Linux and OpenOffice on the desktop.

Who’s next? Just a shortlist of possible LDA users: companies that want to contain costs; schools with limited budgets; and people fed up with paying Microsoft, worrying about the latest security alerts, while watching the vendor report billions in quarterly earnings.

Is Microsoft doomed? With numerous vendors like Sun enhancing and offering open source desktop solutions, the seemingly pacified desktop market will soon see a renewed battle. Even Apple is back in the mix, having put a fancy Mac finish on top of a UNIX shell. But with $50 billion in cash and short-term investments and a take-no-prisoners mentality, it’s tough to predict Microsoft will lose or concede. However, there is no doubt that the minor Linux desktop trickle will soon become a steady stream -- perhaps eventually a flood.

By: Tom Rhinelander