IBM says that the new version of its IBM Workplace
Managed Client software will support the open-source Open Document
Format (ODF) standard.
ODF support in the Workplace Managed Client desktop management
system will be available early in 2006. The product is set to be
aggressively marketed in developing countries and to governmental
bodies that do not want to simply standardise on the document
formats offered in Microsoft’s Office suite.
The Indian government has already said it will use ODF to store
and manage government data.
Microsoft recently announced that it would release details of
the file formats for its forthcoming Office 12 collaboration suite
to international standards bodies. This was seen as an attempt by
the company to allay some fears in the public sector about data
lock-in with the company.
Big Blue said of its ODF support move, “By extending the support
of open standards to the desktop, IBM customers can now help
protect their organisation’s investment in corporate data with
consistency, reliability and accessibility in their documents.
IBM said proprietary file formats can force businesses into a
perpetual cycle of royalty and licensing fees, where they can find
themselves locked into their original software choices just to
ensure future access to their documents.
It said open standards such as ODF help ensure interoperability
between systems, while documents will be accessible well into the
future, regardless of the platform or software used.
The upcoming release of Workplace Managed Client 2.6 will include
support for version 1.0 of the ODF standard. ODF is an XML-based
standard recently ratified by the Organisation for the Advancement
of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) standards body.
The productivity editors within the upcoming version of
Workplace Managed Client, including those for word processing,
presentation graphics and spreadsheets, will support the ability to
import, export and rewrite files saved within ODF.
“The ODF standard is a key development in the management of
corporate data and documents – organisations should not have to
purchase any particular vendor’s software product to access their
own data.
"The ODF standard ensures that key information like financial
records, government contracts, payroll data and other corporate
information is usable and accessible, regardless of software
platform,” said Michael Rhodin, IBM general manager of Workplace,
portal, and collaboration products.