Strategic Innovations, Inc.

Hot on the heels of recent news about the State of Massachusetts adopting the OpenDocument file format (the native format of OpenOffice 2.0 and soon almost all word processing programs except Microsoft Office), analysis is starting to appear indicating there are many other reasons to switch to OpenOffice instead of upgrading to the forthcoming Microsoft Office 12 suite.  Not the least of which is the issue of cost.  Early reports indicate savings of 90% may be possible.

For readers not aware, the OpenOffice suite of applications is not only “free” as in freely modifiable due to its source code being available, it is also “free” as in it does not cost anything to “purchase”.  All you have to do is visit the OpenOffice web site and download a copy.  You can install it on as many computers as you like.  Contrast this with Microsoft's Office Standard currently listing at $399.99 at Best Buy (of course, I'm sure most government purchasers can get better pricing, but still hefty compared to $0).  In the past though, the cost differential was always discounted because there were perceived to be enough differences in the programs, primarily the interfaces, that any gains made in the cost of software would be lost to training and productivity losses while workers learned the new software.  Anyone who ever upgraded from one version of Microsoft Office to another knows there was a significant learning curve there as well.

The dynamics of the analysis have changed though as Microsoft works to prepare its next office suite, Microsoft Office 12.  One of the major changes of the applications is in the user interface.  Microsoft is introducing a new “concept” called a “ribbon”.  The ribbon will replace the typical menu bar and toolbars that so many users are used to using.  xBetas@PDC05 has some screen shots of Office 12 beta 1.  Below is a shot of the new Word interface:

And below is a shot of the “ribbon”:

As you might imagine, there will be considerable training needed to get workers up to speed on this new interface.  Meanwhile, OpenOffice 2.0 sports an interface that is very similar to what users have been using.  Even better, with the open nature of OpenOffice, it is very configurable and customizable.  Below is a shot of the interface from Beta2 of OpenOffice 2.0:

According to Cybersource, an Australian consulting firm, they estimate the cost of deploying Microsoft Office 12 will be about 10 times as high as OpenOffice 2.0.  Much of their estimate is based on comments from the State of Massachusetts, where officials have pegged the cost of deploying OpenOffice throughout State government agencies at $5 Million compared to $50 Million to upgrade to Microsoft Office 12.

Whether you are large or small, the deployment of OpenOffice 2.0 can save significant money for your organization.  Here at Zenshin Consulting, the cost of deploying multiple copies of OpenOffice 2.0 betas has been zero dollars.  This can be contrasted with a single deployment of an upgrade to Microsoft Office 2003 for a single user that cost $150.  The savings are not hard to figure out.

If you are interested in getting your organization upgraded to a modern, powerful office suite application, I suggest you try OpenOffice.  If you would like to develop a plan for deployment of OpenOffice and other software that will help your organization's productivity, Zenshin Consulting stands ready to provide assistance.

Jeffrey G. Causey, CPA
President