Open Source - Closed Windows? Marco van den Berg Greenpeace International

Transcription

1

2 Open Source - Closed Windows? Marco van den Berg Greenpeace International

3 Overview Greenpeace ICT landscape Strategic choices Initiatives Lessons learnt A long way to go

4 Greenpeace ICT Landscape 40 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific Office size ranges from 5 to 200 staff 1500 staff members Independent National Regional Offices 4 ships Floating offices Thousands of volunteers

5 Greenpeace ICT Landscape Desktop mainly MS windows (98 and up) MS Office applications (esp. Word, Excel) Tendency to feel exempt from legal software licenses Reluctant to spend on IT Incompatible standards & formats

6 Greenpeace ICT Landscape Widely diverse back office applications Exchange / Lotus Notes / Linux mail server MS Access / SQL Server / Oracle / MySQL / PostgreSQL Fund raising systems Finance systems HR systems

7 Strategic Choices Breaking down the walls Open source paradigm shifts IT not a core activity Increase transparency inside & outside Do as we preach recycle, limit e-waste Improve efficiency, reduce green tape

8 Strategic Choices Breaking Down The Walls When in doubt, communicate Knowledge Management <> !!! Knowledge Management <> IT centric Breaking down the firewalls Share experiences Foster best practices Stop the YaWS syndrome

9 Strategic Choices IT not a core activity One of many vehicles Cyber activism just a small part, catalyzing real activism IT professionals are hard to find, and even harder to keep Escalating cost of maintenance Partnerships with industry, other NGOs

10 Strategic Choices Open Source Paradigm Shifts Present Future Licenses Services Patents Rights EULA SLA Fads Needs Monopoly Diversity Software Protocols

11 Strategic Choices Increase transparency Inside and Outside Secret / Private / Personal / Confidential / Sensitive / Proprietary / Closed / Internal Use Only / For Your Eyes Only Contradicts core values of Greenpeace Public domain unless proven otherwise Open Greenpeace to the public as well

12 Strategic Choices Do as we preach recycle, limit e-waste Typical life time of hardware < 3 years Hazardous toxics Moore s law, or Gates Greed? Feature creep Extend depreciation period for hardware Resist gadgets focus on durability

13 Strategic Choices Improve efficiency, reduce green tape Competitive arena Increased public aversion of overhead Follow successes from private industry Enterprise concept is not necessarily evil Integration of systems essential Major opportunity for NGO collaboration Adjust the organisation where required

14 Initiatives Open Office Linux Terminal Server Project Public Engagement projects Lightweight Directory Access Protocol OpenVPN Ship desktop environment Asterisk - Voice over IP

15 Greenpeace Germany Initiatives OpenOffice Pilot test of OpenOffice Many issues with document exchange Problems with macro s, special formats Open Office 2.0 (Beta) vast improvement MS Office wannabe? No MS Access replacement solution yet

16 Initiatives Linux Terminal Server Project Equivalent to Citrix/MS Terminal Server Use of cheap thin client desktop machines Enables extended life of aging machines Potential remote system administration Centralized data storage May use some MS software (emulated)

17 Initiatives Public Engagement projects Flagship project: Planet Content Management System Based on OpenACS project All development placed in public domain Add-on projects: Cyberactivism, Mailing List Manager

18

19

20

21 Initiatives Lightweight Directory Access Protocol More than a directory Single sign-on Wide industry support Single platform for user administration Future: human capital inventory

22 Initiatives OpenVPN Secure remote access for road warriors, home workers, contractors No proprietary hardware (eg Cisco) Not legal in some countries Client software not for all systems

23 Initiatives Ship desktop environment Unique requirements expen$ive bandwidth no resident IT staff rotating crew members critical actions time limited information relative isolation

24

25 Initiatives Ship desktop environment Linux server and workstations Thin client technology Resilient through redundant design Simplified / Dumbed Down desktop Just the basics

26 Initiatives Asterisk Voice over IP PBX in free open source software Worst kept secret Allows use of PC softphones, analog phones, and IP phones Standard protocol (SIP) Route internal voice over Internet

27 Lessons Learnt Use outside help but beware! Set investment guidelines Communicate developments Avoid religion in decision making Keep project timelines short

28 Lessons Learnt Use outside help but beware! Beware of Geeks bearing Gifts Always get a second opinion Insist on critical mass For software development projects, make sure YOU drive the project Include maintenance in contracts

29 Lessons Learnt Set investment guidelines Upper and Lower limits Standardize configurations Foster sense of responsibility Control of purchasing by IT unit No free lunches Break Moore s law!

30 Lessons Learnt Communicate developments Foster Communities of Practice Nominate champions Common language for requirements Software Development Methodology Avoid self-fulfilling prophecies Involve users at all stages

31 Lessons Learnt Avoid religion in decision making Distribution wars Quantifiable arguments rule

32 Lessons Learnt Keep project timelines short Limit scope, keep teams small Failure IS an option Monolithic development leads to gargantuan maintenance monsters 3 rd party contractors must participate in project management methodology

33 A long way to go