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LiMux Project Has Saved Munich €10m So Far
Mojo66 writes "After project savings had been estimated to amount to at least €4 million in March, more precise figures are now in: Over €10 million (approximately £8 million or $12.8 million) has been saved by the city of Munich, thanks to its development and use of the city's own Linux platform. The calculation compares the current overall cost of the LiMux migration with that of two technologically equivalent Windows scenarios: Windows with Microsoft Office and Windows with OpenOffice. Reportedly, savings amount to over €10 million. The study is based on around 11,000 migrated workplaces within Munich's city administration as well as 15,000 desktops that are equipped with an open source office suite. The comparison with Windows assumes that Windows systems must be on the same technological level; this would, for example, mean that they would have been upgraded to Windows 7 at the end of 2011. Overall, the project says that Windows and Microsoft Office would have cost just over €34 million, while Windows with Open Office would have cost about €30 million. The LiMux scenario, on the other hand, has reportedly cost less than €23 million. A detailed report (in German) is available."
...without sounding like a shill, but I'm really curious if the end result works just as well. If all your people are are trained on Windows and Office, switching to Linux and OpenOffice will have an associated cost in terms of retraining and reduced productivity while people become proficient in the new software, right? I don't read German, so I have no idea if those numbers are included in the final cost. And I think it's great that they are showing that home grown Linux can be cheaper (for their needs). I'm just wondering what the *real* cost is in the short term.
Since you can't have been Proficient in Windows 7 until it was released in 2011, staying on Windows would have cost you in terms of retraining and reduced productivity while people become proficient in the new software, right?
And yes the figures are included in the costs.
The REAL cost in the short term is -10mil. In the long term: priceless.
It is a smart decision to invest into Libreoffice. The Libreoffice Development Conference this year took place at the German ministry of business and technology. Behind the scenes several European governments consider to cut costs with huge Libreoffice migrations. Add to that Libreoffice is a European foundation while Openoffice.org is hold back by Americans. The likely solution to the competitive pressure would be that Microsoft goes open source with its own Office suite. The Chinese demonstrated the Europeans with their Kingsoft Office suite how to do it, how to break free from the Microsoft dependency.
He couldn't understand the long term viability of a software only business!
When I introduced my mother to Linux she was surprised how easy it was as she had heard all the scare mongering. You turn it on and get a desktop, like with Windows. You have a menu like with Windows. You click on items and the programmes start, like with Windows. Do I need to go on or do you all get the idea that she thought it was just like Windows except the really big bad difference... click once instead of twice, which she really liked. I went away and a couple of years later she was using Gimp which I had not shown her. She said she preferred Photoshop on the Mac which they had at art school. So eventually she bought a Mac and learnt another system. If a 70 year old great-granny can get through all that and not see what the fuss is about, I think it is time we starting sacking people who cannot.
I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
Looking at the report, the savings come from not having to buy software licenses (~ €6 million) and hardware upgrades (~ €4 million). They have an additional €16 million in the budget with is applied equally to the all Microsoft, LibreOffice on Microsoft and LiMux cases. That money goes to support, customization, trainings and that kind of thing. The allocated budget for each item is exactly the same in all cases.
I think there's an interesting message there: "staying with Microsoft saves you training money" is simply a myth.
I have personally found many issues with working on 2003 and 2010. Specifically Accses. 2010 wants to convert and save as the 2010 format which makes 2003 clients unable to see those changesm, basically requiring 2 levels of databases or matching office versions. I have actually been converting some of our business databases to PHP / SQL to avoid the M$ update hell.
If they're true Microsoft will whatever it takes to either silence them or make theirs cheaper. Personally I think their lower pricing for Windows 8 should be considered along the lines of dumping already.
..and of course It Can't Kick Back. The severest deficiency of all in the world of business and government.