Bristol City Council last week decided to move 5,000
desktops to the Staroffice productivity suite in a bid to save
£1.4m over the next five years.
It said the move was part of a drive to meet the government's
requirements for improved efficiency in the public sector as set
out in the Gershon Review.
The decision will help to build the momentum behind open source
software in the public sector, according to a senior analyst.
Ovum government practice director Eric Woods said it was
significant that the council cited the Gershon Review to justify
its decision. "Councils are looking at how they can respond [to the
call to cut costs and improve efficiency]. This will not be the
last time a council makes this decision. We expect the momentum to
build," he said.
Last month an Office of Government Commerce report said open source
software, including Staroffice, Sun's licence-free alternative to
Microsoft Office, was suitable for deployment and could offer
savings to the public sector.
Bristol plans to introduce Staroffice to more than 5,000 users,
replacing the council's existing mixture of Corel's Word Perfect,
Lotus 1-2-3 and Microsoft Office software.
Most departments will transfer to the new software, although about
1,800 desktops in the city's education service will remain on
Microsoft Office.
Bristol council piloted Staroffice on 600 desktops in the housing
department.
Stewart Long, head of IT at the council, said the product performed
well in terms of functionality and compatibility. The main lessons
came from training and informing staff.
"The roll-out will be over 12 months with lots of communication and
training. The housing project was a bit rushed, but Staroffice
still seemed the right product. These lessons would apply to any
desktop software," said Long.