Ian Lynch wrote:
Any responses to arguments set forth by
Microsoft, et. al., should avoid the emotional dialogue, and focus on
the technical merits of Mass' decision.
Technical or economic merits. While MS might say it will cost MA to
retrain staff, this is a one off short term investment for a long term
gain. Companies and governments often spend money up front to invest in
the future so this is not different or unusual. MS have also said that
they will respond to customer demand so here is the opportunity to show
they mean it. They spend a lot on market research so asking large
corporate and government customers if they would prefer MS to
standardise on ODF would be pretty easy to do.
Here's the lead I would use for this story as a press release:
***
MASS. TAXPAYERS MAY SAVE MONEY WITH NEW OPEN STANDARDS
A decision by the state to adopt an open standard format for state
workers who use office software could save the state millions of dollars
in software costs according to an expert on the issue. In a statement
this week, the state announced that it was adopting the "OpenDocument"
format as the standard to be used by the state's word processing
documents, spreadsheet, drawing, and presentation application. All
agencies are expected to migrate by January 1, 2007.
"OpenDocument is an open format designed so that any software developer
can support it," said EDDIE EXPERT [need to find someone willing to put
their name to it]. "This means that a person in one company can save the
document using an office suite, and they can send it to someone at a
different company using a compeltely different piece of software, and it
will open looking exactly the same. This is especially important because
a lot of organizations are currently stuck using one set of tools simply
because they need to maintain compatibility with their customers or
vendors when a more desirable or less expensive set might actually be a
better fit for them."
The decision is likely to lower costs for the state, EXPERT said,
because of increased competition. "The state will no longer have to use
Microsoft products exclusively to access its files, and those who
interact with state agencies--vendors, attorneys, and even other
governments--will be able to choose from a whole range of applications,"
he said. "They will be able to use products from other companies, or
even freely downloadable open source products like OpenOffice.org,
instead. This means that the state and everyone who interacts with it
will suddenly have many more options, and I would expect this increased
competition to dramatically reduce costs to the state. It could amount
to several millions of dollars in savings per year."
The decision does not necessarily mean that the state will no longer
purchase Microsoft products, and EXPERT cautioned that the decision
should not be seen as an anti-Microsoft move. "This is about greater
flexibility, and not about an attempt to shut out a specific vendor,"
EXPERT said. "Microsoft could very easily be a player by simply choosing
to support the OpenDocument format in future editions of Office. Of
course, if the company chooses not to do so, it will send a strong
message that it no longer wishes to do business with the state, which I
think would be a big mistake for the company."
***
This is something that mainstream people (not just us "geek" types) can
appreciate. The state is really saving a lot of money here. Joe Taxpayer
likes that a lot. People could (*gulp*) start to care!
--
Steven Shelton
Twilight Media & Design
www.TwilightMD.com
www.GLOAMING.us
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