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OpenOffice.org is Perfect for All Your TPS Reports
I had some homework from my place of employment where I had to make Six Sigma project and make a report on it. The problem is that I do not have a manufacturing or industrial job so it is a bit of a stretch to apply it to my every day work flow.
I do use OpenOffice.org over MS office so I attempted to write my report why a workforce should switch to OOo. It was a bit of a stretch giving the industrial origins of Six Sigma and my brain hurts. I am going to play some GameCube and have a beer.
God I want to get back to writing about videogames in my spare time. Here is my report in all of it's glory.
Project Name: Migration to OpenOffice.org from Microsoft Office.
Project Description: A summary of issues and savings by switching to OpenOffice.org Suit from Microsoft Office.
Visualize:
What is the problem?
Each PC with Microsoft Office Standard Edition cost an average of $300 US. After a new version of Microsoft Office is released there are significant upgrade costs. This is know as the "Microsoft Tax". For every hundred PCs in uses that adds up to $ 30,000 US. Upgrades to Microsoft office are $160 US and the cost to upgrade a hundred PCs would be an additional $ 16,000 roughly every two to three years.
Problem Statement :
What is the specific problem to be overcome?
Instead of continuing to purchase Microsoft Office on every new computer find an open-source alternative that can be deployed for no cost software licenses and minimum documentation and training.
Commit :
Who is the process owner or sponsor?
The process can be submitted to IT departments in the company and client workplaces as a recommendation for implementation.
Prioritize :
What are the key focus areas for improvement?
OpenOffice.org (OOo) is an office applications suite. It is intended to be compatible, and directly compete, with Microsoft Office. OOo is free software under the LGPL or SISSL and is available for Microsoft Windows, Unix-like systems and Mac OS X.
( http://www.openoffice.org/ )
OOo is based on the code from an older version of StarOffice that was acquired and made open source by Sun Microsystems with the aim of breaking the market dominance of Microsoft Office and allowing Sun access to rapid development at reduced cost. It also allowed the general public a version of StarOffice that was free including the source code.
The project aims to compete with Microsoft Office and emulate Microsoft Office's look and feel where suitable. It is also able to import from and export to almost all Microsoft Office file formats. The ability to read and write Microsoft Office file formats is the most important feature of OOo for many of its users
OOo Version 1.1.1 includes:
Writer (word processor)
Calc (spreadsheet)
Draw (graphics program)
Impress (presentation program)
Database User Tools
Visual HTML editor
Macro recorder
Math mathematical formula calculator
Export and import Microsoft Word and DocBook XML, export PDF and Macromedia Flash.
OOo can, with some effort, be configured to integrate with databases such as MySQL and PostgreSQL, so as to offer similar functionality to Microsoft Access. OOo 1.1 also includes Quick Starter, a system tray application which occupies around 64MB of memory, but improves the launch time by preloading application libraries into memory in the background and then bringing up the user interface when launched.
The suite is currently available in 25 different languages. Further translations by the development community are underway. OOo has become a serious competitor to the dominant Microsoft Office application suite.
Sun subsidies OOo development in order to produce the next version of StarOffice. Releases of StarOffice since StarOffice 6.0 have been based on the OOo codebase, with some proprietary components included:
Certain fonts (especially Asian language fonts)
Adabas D database
Some templates
Clip art gallery
Some sorting functionality for Asian versions
Some file filters.
(Note: Some of this section references the Wikipeodia section on OOo.)
While it is true that there is not a dedicated email program like Microsoft Outlook in OOo it would not adversely affect our current use of Lotus Notes. If an additional Email Client is needed I would suggest the Open Source Mozilla Thunderbird. ( http://www.mozilla.org/ )
Characterize:
How does the current process work now? :
Microsoft's current market position is the result of a catch-22. Why do so many people buy and use Microsoft Office applications? Because so many people buy and use Microsoft Office applications. We are hit with a cost at every PC that we add to the work force and every couple years we are hit again with upgrades. The cost of tech support and training are not a part of the cost of the software licenses. This is how the "Microsoft Tax" works.
How should the new process work?
I would recommend that pending evaluation from IT and supply that the company's official software office application suit be changes to OpenOffice.org. The software can be downloaded for free from the OpenOffice.org website and it can be installed painlessly in a matter of minutes. Installation CDs can be made and distributed and the software installation can be placed on local server
I want to explain the advantages to the distribution rights of Open Source software like OOo. It is free to use. Free to download and install. Free to distribute and there are no ads, no hidden secrets, no hidden cost and no traditional software licenses at all. There is no cost to upgrade and there is no money to be made from hidden costs. This is not an introductory offer and they are not trying to trick us and suck us in with hidden costs. It is Open Source GPL software. That means that it can not cost anything ever. I know this sounds to good to be true but I have used OpenOffice.org for over a year and I have been nothing but impressed by it's quality, compatibility and robustness. Some of the best things do happen to be free.
Maintenance and training is not significantly worse than Microsoft Office. There is quite good HTML manuals and references included and there are several books on the market about OOo. I know that some people insist on paper versions of documentation and there are books like the OpenOffice.org Resource kit can be found at most bookstores or online. Sun does offer tech support licenses for OpenOffice.org ( http://www.sun.com/service/support/software/openoffice/ ) if that is needed but in using the suit for over a year I have not had a reason to get professional tech support and all of my questions and problems have been solved by the HTML documentation. The migration is not one of a totally different OS or programming standard but from one "typewriter" to another.
OpenOffice.org's compatibility with existing Microsoft Office documents is very good but not exactly perfect. We can create and Microsoft Office documents for delivery to clients and it will be totally transparent. I would recommend that existing copies of Microsoft Office be left installed on existing machines to ease the transition but the importation and exportation of existing MS Office documents should not be a reason to prevent the migration to OOo.
Improve:
What are the deliverables?
A reasonable estimate of the time required for the installation of OpenOffice.org on a hundred PCs could be accomplished by an IT professional in 10 minutes per PC. That would be about 16 person-hours worth of work and it could be made even shorter by placing the installation software on a local server and instructing the affected employees to install it themselves from there. Four copies of a paper based references book could shared by the employees that preferred paper documentation. The four manuals could be around $130 after tax this would be the only sales cost in migrating to OpenOffice.org.
An installation of Microsoft Office for a hundred PCs would be US $30,000 and $ 16,000 to upgrade the software when a new version comes out.
The total cost of installing 100 licenses of MS Office and two upgrades would be $62,000.
The total cost of installing and upgrading 100 copies of OpenOffice.org is 0.00 and the four books would be $130.
We would not be the only one doing this. There are companies and government agencies all over the world that are migrating to OpenOffice.org.
What have you done to sustain the gain?
My workstation came installed with MS Office 2000 and have been using OpenOffice.org for most tasks .
Achieve (include results and sustain metrics) :
I enjoy using this software and think the advantages are many and the savings are substantial. I believe that by switching to OpenOffice.org we can reduce the "Microsoft Tax" that we are currently paying. This is a quality product and viable alternative to the current standard.
This report was created in OpenOffice.org
Jake at September 15, 2004 
Nerd
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Comments
Quote:
Microsoft's current market position is the result of a catch-22. Why do so many people buy and use Microsoft Office applications? Because so many people buy and use Microsoft Office applications.
I beg to differ: many people (personally) use MSO because it's "free" (read: get's an illegal copy from a friend). I think few people really pay the prices you mention (students pay much less), and 20-30% use illegal copies.
If everybody would really pay for the MSO, OOo would undoubtedly be used more widely.
Microsoft got so big just like Sony PlayStation... everybody has access to "free" copies therefor many people use it.
Posted by: Jim at September 16, 2004 6:31 AM
I'm gonna have to disagree with you Jim. Many individuals may be using bootleg copies of MSOffice but virtually all Companies are using legitimate copies. And since this was for Jake's work.... Its just too risky for a business to go and break dem laws.
And slick report Jake. Bravo!
Posted by: SnakeGhost at September 16, 2004 8:22 AM
"The problem is that I do not have a manufacturing or industrial job so it is a bit of a stretch to apply it to my every day work flow."
What are you talking about, you used to work at Baskin Robbins. That is a manufacturing job. Just like the guys who "manufacture" burgers at Dick's. Silly.
Posted by: BBQ at September 16, 2004 10:53 AM
OO.org is at 1.1.2 now.
It would have been good to refer to some migration articles and shown examples of government agencies that have actively implemented it.
Anyways, a quick Google turned up a Migration guide at http://ooo.chbs.dk/mat/msoffice2ooo-migration-0.43cs.sxw - might be worth a look.
Posted by: Matt at September 16, 2004 12:07 PM
@SnakeGhost: you're correct, business customers pay for their applications mostly.
in my experience (a company with 20+ employees switching to Linux) the cost of licences for M$ and the cost for GOOD linux administrators is the same. it makes no difference to the company. (although I like the idea that people (admins) get the money instead of M$) ;-)
and: people demand in the office the application they know (bootleg MSO versions). think about how much training you save when people know Word, Excel etc... OOo is not MSO, small differences remain that hurt people.
Posted by: Jim at September 17, 2004 1:26 AM
Jim I was not reccomending us to switch to Linux just OOo for Windows over MS Office.
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at September 18, 2004 10:53 PM
sorry, I assumed the next logical step.
still I don't like OOo very much because it fails for the same reasons I mentioned in my first post.
OOo copies to much and does not do anything more productive (IMHO) than MSO, so why change when most of the time you get big discounts for personal editions. and for companies the most important reasons to use MSO are
1. people are used to eat (translated to Weasel-speak: less training costs)
2. adminstration is cheaper (same Weasel-think)
because people that understand MSO are easier to find and cost less.
3. never change a winning team (that's the biggest obstacle when switching software)
4. most people / most decision-makers don't know the alternatives.
Posted by: Jim at September 20, 2004 1:08 PM
