Platform study Windows VS Open Source

Transcription

1 DLGP Platform study Windows VS Open Source prepared by Achmed Neijhorst Suriname March 30, 2009 This report contains 27 pages (excluding appendices)

2 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source Content 1 Executive Summary Background 4 2 Current Infrastructure DLGP 5 3 Licensing models Open source vs. closed source Software policy Trends in office computing Windows versus Linux Trends in server computing 10 4 Country situation Requirements 13 5 Desktop scenarios Microsoft Classic desktop Estimated cost per desktop Microsoft Windows and OSS Estimated cost per desktop.... Page 2 of 27

3 5.3 Linux desktop 17 6 Server scenarios Windows server 19 7 Policy Training Infrastructure Desktop Business Applications Server 24 Appendix A: List of Open source applications 26 Appendix B: Case studies introduction of OSS in governmental organizations 27

4 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source 1 Executive Summary 1.1 Background The InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) is financing the Decentralization and Local Government strengthening program. In this program local governments (Districts) are enabled to collect their own local taxes and initiate and finance projects within their districts. For 5 pilot districts administrative offices has been setup. Currently a wired area network is being implemented. Besides hardware and network equipment also software has to be acquired. The DLGP now face the question what software licensing models to chose. An assignment has been given to us, to advice the DLGP between open source and windows based solutions. The study was conducted by interviewing DLGP staff, a site visit to 2 district offices, a workshop with the government ICT managers cluster, and interview with the IDB ICT expert, an interview with the local software vendor, sending questionnaires to local companies and organizations and education institutes, our experience and knowledge of the local ICT sector and a desk study about open source versus windows. We also got a price list from the local Microsoft certified Gold partner provided of government Microsoft licenses which we used in our calculation model. Page 4 of 27

5 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source 2 Current Infrastructure DLGP Currently there are between 60 and 70 personal computers in six locations. This will increase to 100 desktops. New desktops are acquired with OEM Windows XP or Windows Vista licenses (home editions). However there are still a large number of older desktops (mostly clones) with an unlicensed Windows OS installed. The majority of the desktops have Microsoft Office. Mostly MS Word and MS Excel are used. In some cases also PowerPoint is used and in the future maybe MS Project will be necessary. The system administrator of DLGP started an experiment to install Open Office on some desktops. The test was a success. Until now there were no problems encountered with functionality the user was used to in MS Office but that was not available in Open Office. On the contrary the user identified some things in Open Office that were not available in MS Office (e.g calculating in tables and creation of pdf documents). The exchange between MS Office and Open Office documents did not resulted in major problems. However some formats of MS-Office created documents were different when opening the document in Open Office. All district offices have a civil engineering department. This department is using Autocad (different versions). Usually a district office has 2 computers where autocad needed to be installed. Currently mail daemon client is used as mail client. There is no central mail server yet, but it will be implemented with the central mail server. Some users are using van Dale dictionary software (unlicensed). Currently DLGP is using AVG antivirus Free Edition. This product is licensed free for personal use. However DLGP is using it in a business environment so a license should be acquired. For financial administration AccountView is currently used in all district offices. This is a licensed application. Also a custom build district information system is used. The application is developed in Delphi and uses a MS SQL Server database. The database is currently the desktop edition with a limitation of 2 Gb. In some districts the database is reaching this limit. Also a centralized application would to be preferable. The local ICT company that build the system is willing to consider a migration to a mysql/php environment. Currently there is no central file server, but this is also planned in the WAN Implementation. Currently only the Wanica office has a system administrator. The other offices are serviced by de system administrator of DLGP. In the future DLGP want to have one Page 5 of 27

6 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source system administrator per location. In some cases external assistance is acquired for system administration. New servers have been ordered. These servers are coming with Windows Page 6 of 27

7 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source 3 Licensing models There a number of major licensing models used by the industry. Commercial vendors mostly use some kind of restricted license where a user is allowed to make use of their software on one specific platform (PC). This license typically disallows sharing of the software with other users. Typically commercial software is called closed source or proprietary software. Open source software comes with a license models in different flavors. Strictly speaking, there is a difference between open source (which suggests that the source code of the application is open) and software which can be used without paying any fee (this doesn't necessarily mean you can always use the software for free, in certain scenarios still license fee's has to be paid). Open source software (OSS) began as a marketing campaign for free software. OSS can be defined as computer software for which the human-readable source code is made available under a copyright license (or arrangement such as the public domain) that meets the Open Source Definition. This permits users to use, change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in modified or unmodified form. It is very often developed in a public, collaborative manner. Open source software is the most prominent example of open source development and often compared to usergenerated content. Reports shows that adoption of open source has resulted in savings of about $60 billion per year to consumer. A free software license is a software license which grants recipients rights to modify and redistribute the software which would otherwise be prohibited by copyright law. A free software license grants, to the recipients, freedoms in the form of permissions to modify or distribute copyrighted work. Free Software or software libre is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with minimal restrictions only to ensure that further recipients can also do these things and to prevent consumer-facing hardware manufacturers from preventing user modifications to their hardware. Freeware is computer software that is available for use with no cost or for an optional fee. Freeware allows authors to contribute something for the benefit of the community, while at the same time allowing them to retain control of the source code, future direction of development and preserve its business potential. Freeware is different from shareware, where the user is obliged to pay (e.g. after some trial period or for additional functionality). In practice, for software to be distributed as free software, the human-readable form of the program (the source code) must be made available to the recipient along with a notice granting the above permissions. Such a notice is a "free software license", or a notice that the source code is released into the public domain. Page 7 of 27

8 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source Unfortunately due to the different license models every package and its associated license model has to be studied carefully. For governmental, educational and non-profit purposes, open source and free software vendors tend to have a non-restrictive license. License fee's or restrictions typically only apply for commercial usage. For the purpose of this document whenever the term open source software is used it also mean software which can be obtained without paying any fee's (freeware). 3.1 Open source vs. closed source The debate over open source vs. closed source (alternatively called proprietary software) is sometimes heated. One source of conflict is related to economics: Making money through traditional methods, such as sale of the use of individual copies and patent royalty payment (generally called licensing), is more difficult and in many ways against the very concept of open source software. Some closed-source advocates see open source software as damaging to the market of commercial software. This is one of the many reasons, as mentioned above, that the term free software was replaced with open source because many company executives could not believe in a product that did not participate economically in a freemarket or mixed-market economy. In addition, if something goes wrong there is the difficult question of who is liable. The counter to this argument is the use of open source software to fuel the market for a separate product or service. For example: Providing support and installation services; similar to IT Security groups, Linux Distributions, and Systems companies. Using the software as a stepping stone to sell a higher-end product or service; e.g., OpenOffice.org vs. StarOffice. Cost avoidance / cost sharing: many developers need a product, so it makes sense to share development costs (X Window System and the Apache web server) Another major argument is software defects and security: This is an argument that applies to all open products not just open source software. Since Open Source software is open, all of the defects and security flaws are easily found. Closed-source advocates argue that this makes it easier for a malicious person to discover security flaws. Further, that there is no incentive for an open-source product to be patched. Open-source advocates argue that this makes it easier also for a patch to be found and that the closed-source argument is security through obscurity, which this form of security will eventually fail, often without anyone knowing of the failure. Further, that just because there is not an immediate financial incentive to patch a Page 8 of 27

9 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source product, does not mean there is not any incentive to patch a product. Further, if the patch is that significant to the user, having the source code, the user can technically patch the problem themselves. These arguments are hard to prove. However, most studies show that open-source software does have a higher flaw discovery, quicker flaw discovery, and quicker turn around on patches. Current trend shows that Open source software plays a serious role in government, industry and financial sector. Open source software is considered equal as its closed software alternatives. In some specific areas open source software is market leader. Open source has forced commercial vendors to reevaluate their business models, leading to more open and less restrictive licensing models. 3.2 Software policy Computers and software can be seen as an important tool (instrument) to accomplish your business process. It is clear from world-wide developments that ICT will play a bigger role in work-flow and business processes and that current local situation lags behind global trend. Choosing software packages is not only an investment in the tools itself but has impact in the way of working, the way government data is stored and retrieved. The government needs to setup a general policy for software usage. This should be based on at least the following pillars: Software must have proven itself in other similar situations. Software must be supported by local supplier. Software package must be able to import data/export data from/to open data format so that it is possible to exchange data. There must be an opt-out strategy. In case the government want to move to another package it must be possible to move/export data stored in the current package. This has to be arranged upfront before acquiring a package and make arrangements with supplier. Package must be preferable platform independent (support both Windows and Linux). Web based applications are definitely a pré but web based applications must be suitable for multiple browsers including Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. 3.3 Trends in office computing Desktop trends: Users don't have a fixed working location. Employees work from both home, different office locations. Users have their own laptop or other device to access the ICT Infrastructure. On the long run, the classic desktop (fixed non mobile PC) will become obsolete and be replaced by mobile devices like notebooks and net books. In 2008 for the first time Page 9 of 27

10 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source more notebooks were sold then desktops. The way of working will be that an employee will have its own personalized device and that it somehow connects to the office network (at office location or somewhere remote). 3.4 Windows versus Linux Windows Vista Linux Licence Commercial Free Open source Local Suppliers ++ -/+ Local support ++ -/+ Stability -/+ ++ Impact user actions on system stability -/+ ++ Sensitivity for viruses -/+ ++ Remote management + ++ Application availability ++ -/+ Hardware resource usage + Hardware support ++ + Updates/patches + + User friendliness + + Security + ++ Graphic UI ++ + Internet support Trends in server computing Current trend is that network-computing has become defacto standard. One of the most obvious trends that standardized network solutions are becoming increasingly popular further reducing the costs of setting up networks. User configured servers (for example a Linux or Windows server) becomes less popular due to the costs of configuration and maintenance. For commodity tasks (for example network connectivity, storage) standardized solutions are more handy. Page 10 of 27

11 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source A Linux server can have similar functionality as a Windows server regarding: File server and storage User Network access DHCP services Print services Application services (Database, Webserver etc) Multiple studies show that Linux solutions are more stable and easier to maintain provided that there is enough know-how available. Although there are multiple GUI or webbased tools available configuring and maintaining a Linux server still requires specific know-how. The same applies for a Windows Server. To overcome this new set of products are quickly gaining high market shares, the rapidly growing Network Attached Storage device (NAS). Basically they are servers build around Linux operating systems with a dedicated purpose (file server, media server, storage) which operate out of the box (plug and play) requiring minimal knowledge from the operator. The underlying OS (normally Linux) and resident applications installed on the NAS are typically shielded from the operator. The operator typically has a web-based interface where a limited number of settings and administrative tasks can be done.nas solutions are typically replacing small servers and an ideal solution of small offices or also used for dedicated solutions in big networks. NAS comes with extendable storage capacity and can be equipped with RAID storage capacity.. Studies show that NAS solutions are typically cheaper than user configured windows servers not only compared to investments but especially administrations and maintenance is much cheaper. Typically functionality provided by NAS are: Storage File server (Windows Networking, NFS) Windows User Authorization Print services Backup DHCP services There is one major drawback of the NAS solution, a NAS comes with predefined functionality but normally it is not possible / advisable to install server applications on the NAS. This would be contrary to the NAS philosophy, a simple black box which is easy maintainable. Some example of NA solutions are: Netgear ICYbox Some major vendors are providing NAS solutions. Page 11 of 27

12 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source 4 Country situation Currently only some large companies and some government departments have a policy to be fully compliant with license fee obligations. Even some large companies that have a compliance policy are not fully compliant or try to postpone the acquisition of licenses as long as possible. Within the government there is not a clear license policy. In some ministries like the ministries of Justice and Police and the ministry of Finance have a policy to try to have only licenses software within their organization. However this point is not reached yet. When Government ICT projects are financed by international organizations like the IDB it is required that all computers and servers acquired in the project are delivered with licensed software. However even then no 100% compliancy is reached. One government organization that has chosen open source as their desktop platform is the police department. They chose open office as their office application for the whole police department. The ICT staff will study the application functionalities themselves and train the other users in open Office. The local intellectual property and copyright laws are out dated and not enforced by the government. However the situation is changing. There is a increasing realization by the government that intellectual property and copyright protection are important standards that must be enforced. Also more and more private companies try to at least partly comply with their license obligations. Also companies like Microsoft and Oracle are increasing their interest in Suriname and have already visited some local companies (sometimes via partners and sometimes in person). Oracle already performed at least one audit at a local client. Some companies are using Linux for a server environment. Most companies that are using Oracle databases are running their database server under Linux. Also web servers, proxy servers, fire walls and mail servers are often Linux based. In some cases also file servers are Linux based. However only few companies are using Linux for desktops. Other popular open source products are Apache/Tomcat, Java, Firefox and MySql. Currently the Polytechnical College is the only formel education institution that is officering a complete ICT education. There are some private companies however that are offering ICT schooling. We studied the curriculum of both PTC and the private education institutes. Some open source products are taught like Java, MySQL and PHP. There is one local ICT company that is offering Linux system administration courses and Java programming courses. However there are no local companies that are offering courses in or are promoting open office or star office. However a lot of private ICT companies are offering MS Word and MS Excel Courses. Also the IMEO School is teaching students to work in MS- Word and Excel. Page 12 of 27

13 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source The cost of ICT staff and ICT consultants are significant lower than in the western world. However the process of licensed software is more or less the same. This could have a significant impact in cost calculation models. 4.1 Requirements Based on the investigation the infrastructure of DLGP should have the following requirements DLGP Network where decentralized sites can connect to the central server using VPN and the Internet. A central server (most likely in Paramaribo) with some centralized services (like , shared application/database) made available for all decentralized sites. Decentralized sites: A local network containing multiple desktops. Connectivity to DLGP network/internet using a dial-up/adsl/leased line. Limited expectations regarding bandwidth and stability. Preferable one shared connection (line) for the whole site to manage costs, security etc. A local gateway/firewall to manage security and connection to the Internet. Local server for: Local sharing and storage of data Printer sharing User accounts for local network. Backup Simplified maintenance: Decentralized server/gateway: Easy administration for daily purposes by local employee with no IT background. Remote administration by central system administrator for incidental purposes (calamities) Easy backup mechanism Easy replace mechanism in case of hardware failure. Desktops Easy way to restore desktop to an initial state. Page 13 of 27

14 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source Figure 1 Possible DLGP WAN infrastructure Figuur 2 Possible DLGP LAN infrastructure Page 14 of 27

15 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source 5 Desktop scenarios A desktop is considered a regular PC/laptop used by an employee at the office. This user typically uses a set of office applications and doesn't differ from a office employee in other organizations. Besides the regular office applications users have additional applications which are dedicated to their organization or even dedicated to their specific job position. Current practice (both local and global) is that users have a far more powerful desktop (regarding both number of available applications, functionality of applications and hardware) then is necessary for fulfilling their job. Although from a creative and social point of view it is not accepted that users should have a very limited desktop environment trend is to use more network based applications accessible to the webbrowser, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0) and to keep the desktop light weighted to reduce costs of maintenance. There are 3 basic desktop configurations possible Microsoft classic Windows + OSS Linux Desktop Operating System Windows Vista Windows Vista Linux Office tools Microsoft Office Open Office Open Office Microsoft Outlook Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird Webbrowser Internet Explorer Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox For Windows it is expected that all new PC's will be delivered with Windows Vista so all analysis is based on Vista alike systems. Microsoft also announced that Windows XP and other platforms will be out phased. 5.1 Microsoft Classic desktop Desktops are configured with the major applications from Microsoft. This scenario is well known to all users and local suppliers since this configuration is the most used world wide at the moment. Up till now in Suriname license compliancy have not been a priority for home and business computer users, so most users and ICT Departments chose the applications where they are most comfortable with regardless of the actually license cost. So the Microsoft classic desktop is the most used configuration. So from a short-term practical point of view this would be the first choice. But licensing fees must be paid according to Microsoft licensing model. Page 15 of 27

16 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source Strength Standard well known solution Availability applications Opportunities Weakness Vulnerability Cost of ownership Threads Market trend is different Vendor lock-in Estimated cost per desktop. Most A-Brand pc s cannot be purchased without a Windows operating system or the open source models are less attractive than the windows based models. Often the Vista home edition is delivered with the pc. However this version is not suitable for business purposes if we look at stability and security aspects. In the cost calculation we took into account the upgrade from vista home to vista business. Buy Vista Business instead of Vista Home Government license Microsoft Office Standard Option upgrade to Microsoft Office Professional Third party Antivirus Optional Windows 2003 Client Access License Optional MS Exchange Cal Optional MS SQL Server CAL Optional MS Project Optional Autocad Optional Van Dale Dictionary 100 USD 320 USD 99 USD from 35 tot 50 USD 40 USD 59 USD 142 USD 419 USD USD 500 USD 5.2 Microsoft Windows and OSS Desktops are configured with Windows, since licensing fees for Windows are often included when buying new PC's. Applications used are Opensource whenever possible including Open Office as alternative for Microsoft Office and QCad as an alternative for Autocad. Open Office is a cross platform Office suite that supports all basic office functionality that is also available in MS Office. It also support the MS Office same file formats. QCad is a decent alternative for Autocad. It only supports 2D drawings (however with 3D angle views). An alternative for MS Project is Open Workbench. The basic environment is well known to the users and suppliers, but users start learning to get used to alternative applications. Also it is still possible to use regular commercial Windows based applications whenever necessary. This configuration comes close to the current configuration of DLGP. Page 16 of 27

17 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source Strength Operating environment well known Availability applications Opportunities Open source awareness Weakness Vulnerability New (office) applications for users Threads Estimated cost per desktop. A possible configuration for DLGP could be: Upgrade Vista Home to Vista Business 100 USD Open Office. No Charge AVG Anti virus 35 USD Mail Daemon Client No Charge (alternative Gmail) MySQL Client Optional MS Project Optional AutoCad Profession for Windows 35 usd or Autocad usd Online dictionary 5.3 Linux desktop The desktop is completely configured with Linux and different Open source applications. This environment requires minimal commercial licenses and requires less from the hardware (so cheaper hardware can be obtained). Both users and suppliers are not too familiar with this environment and not all applications are available for this platform. From system administration point of view individual desktop can be maintained very easily. Strength Cost of ownership Stability and maintainability Opportunities Open source awareness. Could also be a pilot project for government of Suriname Is possible to run at older hardware Weakness Complete new environment Not all applications available Threads Lack of support from local suppliers Not part of mainstream Page 17 of 27

18 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source Desktop comparison Full Microsoft desktop Windows + Open Source Linux desktop Required Windows Vista Business 100 Windows Vista 100 Linux 0 Microsoft Office 320 Open Office 0 Open Office 0 Internet Explorer 0 Firefox 0 Firefox 0 AVG Virussscanner 35 AVG Virusscanner 35 n/a Optional Microsoft Exchange client 59 Mozilla Thunderbird 0 Mozilla Thunderbird 0 Microsoft Project 419 Open workbench 0 Open Office 0 Autocad 1200 Qcad 0 Qcad 0 Dictionary van Dale 500 Dictionary van Dale 500 n/a 0 Microsof SQL Client 142 MySQL client 0 MySQL client 0 Reference costs System admin cost 20 US$/hour Downtime costs 5 US$/hour Helpdesk costs 20 US$/hour Training costs 20 US$/hour Licenses 455 US$ 135 US$ 0 US$ configuration and installation 20 hour 20 hour 20 hour user training 16 hour 24 hour 32 hour helpdesk 16 hour 16 hour 16 hour Downtime (software related) 40 hour 40 hour 16 hour maintenance 24 hour 24 hour 8 hour Initial costs hardware, software 455 US$ 135 US$ 0 US$ configuration and installation 720 US$ 880 US$ 1040 US$ Investment 1175 US$ 1015 US$ 1040 US$ Annual Administration and maintenance 480 US$ 480 US$ 160 US$ helpdesk 320 US$ 320 US$ 320 US$ Downtime (software related) 200 US$ 200 US$ 80 US$ Annual cost of ownership 1000 US$ 1000 US$ 560 US$ A financial analysis shows that a Windows Open Source desktop is cheaper than a Microsoft solution, but additional effort is required in training of user. If additional packages are also obtained using an open source license savings will be much higher. A Linux desktop is from purely financial point of view the best solution. The initial investments are similar than their counterparts due to the additional effort required in user training but the cost of maintenance are much lower than its Windows alternative. Page 18 of 27

19 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source 6 Server scenarios Servers are often dedicated to specific (server) applications like file-sharing, printservices, mail etc. Due to the relatively low costs of server hardware, the trend is to have specialized servers which are remotely managed. Windows server Operating system Windows 2003 Linux Linux servers Web server Apache/Tomcat Apache/Tomcat Database Oracle, MySQL Oracle, MySQL File sharing Windows networking Samba Print sharing Windows networking Samba Authentication Windows domain Samba For servers the server configuration is also determined by the server application(s) which are needed to be facilitated. 6.1 Windows server Windows servers are suited for different tasks including database server, web server, mail server and file server. System administration and management can be done through the regular window GUI. Remote management is more cumbersome although is built in and there are third party tools available. Strength Well known user interface Local support Opportunities Weaknesses Vulnerability Cost of ownership Less suited for multiple tasks Threads Long term scalability Linux server Linux server can accomplish different tasks including database, mail, file and web services. Stability is very good, and hardware resource usage is limited, so multiple services can deployed easily. Due to the complete remote accessibility, and the cheap hardware this setup has become quite popular as default server configuration. Page 19 of 27

20 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source Strength Reliability Scalability Cost of ownership Opportunities Server reduction Weaknesses Unix System knowhow needed Threads Page 20 of 27

21 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source 7 Policy DLGP should have a clear policy regarding software. We advise to use the following principles: All software used should have an appropriate license so that DLGP can legally use application. Only use a commercial license when an appropriate Open Source alternative doesn't exist. If there are two alternatives which are similar regarding functionality, reliability and available support the Open Source version should prevail. Software must have an option to export data to a publicly available format. If a (local) tailor made application is used it is required that arrangements are made upfront that DLGP can move to another vendor without any problem. The following should be arranged in the agreement before acquiring software: Possibility to export of application data to a fully described format. Vendor must agree upfront to corporate. Escrow agreement regarding source code in case vendor cannot fulfill obligations. 7.1 Training DLGP should seriously consider how to invest in ICT. Basically it is maybe more interesting to save now on licenses and hardware for a number of reasons: Prices of hardware and software are expected to decrease more, so investments have a high decrease in value. Open source alternatives are emerging. It is better to invest in training of employees instead, since this will save of future ICTexpenses. If savings on licenses are fully used for education on open source alternatives, the government will be on the long run less dependent on commercial licenses and can easily select open source products. Now the government will be dependent on relatively expensive external consultants and companies. A simple calculation shows that DLGP can save more than Usd on open office licenses. DLGP could train their staff in open office y buying Computer based training CD s or following online courses. Some of these courses are at no charge. Even sending 2 people abroad for a training course and having them train the DLGP staff, or alternatively hiring a foreign trainer to train the whole DLGP staff will expectedly result in less than Usd cost and so a significant saving. The same is the case with QCad and Open Workbench. However the most efficient way is to partner with other government agencies (e.g. police department) to share training cost and effort. Page 21 of 27

22 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source 7.2 Infrastructure DLGP has multiple sites where a relatively small number of employees need a desktop based working environment. Every desktop has some need to access a public network for centralized applications, data sharing, and Internet Access. The solution of a single centralized server located in the capital and that every desktop is dependent on having direct access to the centralized server is not feasible due to current limitations of the communication infrastructure (lack of bandwidth and unstable communication). To bypass this it is necessary to have some server infrastructure on-site. Services required are: File servers (access and storage of local application and data). Mail (local mail system or gateway to centralized mail system). Network (connectivity to the bigger DLGP/government network and Internet). User access (authorization for users accessing the network). Printing (sharing printers between multiple users). Backup of data. The server infrastructure at every site will have the following characteristics: Low costs, both in hardware and in software. Minimal maintenance requirements, localized administrative activities should be minimal. Exchangeable. Setup and configuration should be identical for all sites. Robust: The solution should be stable, able to handle Current trend is that for the small office and home market dedicated server solutions (for example Network Attached Storage solutions) are on the market with lean dedicated hardware (typically based on cheap Intel /Linux systems) with an intuitive Web based GUI for maintenance. General characteristics are: Services: File storage User Access for Windows based networking Network gateway Printer services Mail services Backup service Plug and Play Intuitive Web based administrative tool Typically > 100 GB storage Small hardware print Low price (typically < US$ all in) Setting up a (decentralized) infrastructure using this technology will result in a robust, cheap infrastructure. Page 22 of 27

23 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source 7.3 Desktop We advice DLGP to use the license model with model with Microsoft Windows as desktop operating system and use as much open source products as possible. Especially start using Open Office instead of Microsoft Office. Migrating to a full Linux desktop environment will be too risky for DLGP because there are too few local reference cases and there is no guarantee of local support. This will only be recommended if it is part of a larger government policy to use open source government wide. A full Microsoft based environment will be too costly and also is not necessary because only limited functionality of applications is used. A mixed environment would be the best solution for DLGP. 7.4 Business Applications DLGP uses AccountView as their financial system. Although it is not part of the scope of the project we want to recommend considering open source alternatives. A good open source alternative is Tiny ERP (now open ERP) which is currently the most downloaded software worldwide and already used in Suriname by various companies (including i-frontier). For the district information system we recommend to migrate with a new release to a webbased application with a MySQL database. During our site visit to a district office we also noticed the need for a good document management, archiving and workflow management system (for permit applications). Also here we recommend open source alternatives. Page 23 of 27

24 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source 7.5 Server Because open source server solutions are becoming more popular in Suriname and also Linux server are running more stable and secure than Windows Server, Linux servers would be a good alternative for DLGP. However we have to take into considerations that already seven new servers with windows server 2008 and five client access licenses are acquired. These licenses are not transferable to other servers. We advise to leave the servers on Windows server 2008, but for new servers to use Linux as much as possible. Still for DLGP infrastructure it must be considered to acquire low cost NAS solutions since the savings on maintenance are much higher than the initial investment. Financial comparison Server solution comparison File server, 500 Gb storage, RAID DHCP, print service 20 users Backup tool Virus check (Windows only) Reference costs System admin cost Downtime costs 20 US$/hour 100 US$/hour Window server Linux server NAS Initial hardware, software US$ configuration and installation hours experience level factor Investment US$ Annual Administration and maintenance hours Downtime (software related) hours Annual costs US$ From a financial point of view a Linux server solution is less expensive than a Windows solution especially on the long run. But it is dependent on the availability of (more expensive) system administrators. A strategy could be to invest in educating own personnel is Linux System administration. The difference in annual price tag between a Page 24 of 27

25 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source Linux solution and a Windows solution should be invested in education and training giving savings on the long run. The NAS solution is far the cheapest. The only drawback is that it is more or less a black box, so in case of (hardware) failure some redundancy is required. It is strongly advisable to have spare NAS-devices available to replace malfunctioning ones. Still The NAS solution will be far less expensive that the Windows and the Linux solution. Due to the high cost of ownership Windows server solution should be used only if it is required for example there is a must have application which only runs in a Windows environment. Page 25 of 27

26 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source Appendix A: List of Open source applications The list of open source applications is endless. Here a selected number of open source applications are mentioned which can be interesting as an alternative for current applications in use. On it is possible to search for appropriate open source alternatives for the most popular commercial applications. Open Office Star Office Word processing, Spreadsheet, Presentation, Drawing, Database Word processing, Spreadsheet, Presentation, Drawing, Database Windows Thunderbird Mail client X X TinyERP Financial ERP X X Hyperoffice Document management X X Sunbird Collaboration X X Evolution Groupware X X Gaim Messaging X X Gimpshop Painting, Imaging X X Open workbench Project Management X - VLC Media Player Media playback X X PDFCreator PDF creation X X Qcad Drawing, CAD X X Open proj Project Management X X 7 Zip ZIP, archiving X X GnuCash Finance, accounting X X MySQL DBMS X X PostgreSQL DBMS X X ClamWin Virus X - Apache WebServer X X Tomcat Application server X X Jboss Application server X X Eclipse Developments X X X X Linux X X Page 26 of 27

27 Plattform Study Windows vs Open Source Appendix B: Case studies introduction of OSS in governmental organizations Case study 1:Office of Government Commerce Case Study 2: Open Source office software Bristol City Council Case Study3: Major OpenOffice.org Deployments Page 27 of 27

28 Office of Government Commerce Open Source Software Trials in Government Final Report Contents Executive Summary 1 Introduction 2 Open Source Background 3 Case Studies Scope 4 Case Studies Results 5 Open Source Considerations 6 Conclusions and Recommendations Annexes A References B Contacts C Details of Case Studies Executive summary Introduction In September 2003 the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) announced that they would be coordinating, with the support of the Office of the e-envoy, Proof of Concept trials of Open Source Software (OSS) in a range of public bodies in conjunction with IBM. In December 2003 the OGC announced that the scope would be extended to include the involvement of Sun Microsystems in trials coordinated by OGC. This report by OGC summarises the key findings from those activities and, to supplement the reports from the trials, also takes into account information obtained from other public sector activity in OSS planning and deployment in the UK and elsewhere in Europe Note: The Office of the e-envoy (OeE) became the e-government Unit (egu) in April Background Open Source Software is increasingly cited as a viable alternative to commercial proprietary software, with potential significant value for money benefits for government. It is based on the principle of software products made available by the OSS developer community (which includes commercial companies, academics and others) licensed for use with or without a fee. OSS licences generally give the user the freedom to use, copy, distribute, examine, change and improve the software. The commercial models that underpin OSS distribution typically include support charges, but there can also be other costs and benefits perceived to be associated with OSS deployment. Costs may include staff training, migration of existing files and applications, and the effort required to integrate with other software. Apart from reductions in the cost of software licences, benefits of Open Source can include cost avoidance through reductions in replacement cycles of hardware, improved software reliability and security, software platform stability, the ability to tailor and modify the software, easier administration, and greater scalability of hardware platforms. 1

29 The increasing availability of Open Source software for infrastructure support, on the desktop and for business applications expands the choices available to public sector organisations and supports new cost-effective approaches to IT architecture, software acquisition and development, and IT lifecycle management. Proof of Concept trials The objective of the Proof of Concept trials was to obtain information from live customer case study situations on a number of key issues: - The viability of OSS; is OSS a credible alternative to proprietary software? - Obstacles to implementation of OSS; what factors may inhibit the adoption of OSS, and how can they be overcome? - The costs and benefits of OSS; what evidence is there for the value for money derived from adoption of OSS? - Lessons learned in planning, implementation and operation of OSS. Key Conclusions On the basis of the empirical evidence and experience reported from the trials sites and elsewhere, the current study has concluded that: - Viability of OSS: Open Source software is a viable and credible alternative to proprietary software for infrastructure implementations, and for meeting the requirements of the majority of desktop users; - Obstacles to implementation: The main obstacles to widespread implementation of Open Source software are: for desktop applications, the current lack of complex functionality which can affect ease of migration and interoperability for some organisations; and for business applications, the lack of Open Source products to compete with large-scale proprietary enterprise-level products; no significant obstacles were noted for the adoption of Open Source in infrastructure developments; - Costs and benefits: Adoption of Open Source software can generate significant savings in hardware and software costs for infrastructure implementation, and reduce the licensing costs and hardware refresh requirements for desktop implementation; - Lessons learned: Adoption of Open Source, particularly for the desktop, requires investment in planning, training of users, development of skills for implementation and support, and detailed consideration of migration and interoperability issues. There are currently three main potential areas of implementation of OSS - on servers, the desktop and business applications, and these are currently at differing levels of maturity. OSS Server and infrastructure products, generally based on Linux, are now perceived by the market as mature, gaining increasing acceptance, and delivering significant value for money opportunities. OSS Desktop products (including desktop platforms such as Linux, and office personal productivity suites) are developing but there still has been little significant widespread implementation, though these are currently starting to be rolled out in public sector bodies in other European countries. 2

30 OSS Business Applications generally are still immature, and the scope of business applications available as Open Source software is limited. Those applications that do exist as Open Source are currently more appropriate for small or medium-sized businesses than for large public sector bodies, as they generally lack industrial strength. No two enterprise-level IT implementations in government are exactly the same, and consequently the factors to be considered in relation to adoption of OSS, and the balance of costs and benefits, will vary between organisations. The short timescales of the current exercise, and in some cases the desire of trials sites to maintain confidentiality of financial details, have prevented OGC from coming to any firm quantified conclusions regarding the comparative total lifecycle costs of ownership of OSS and proprietary software. In addition, it is always difficult to identify the benefits arising from migration to OSS in isolation from the impact of changes in other areas such as the system architecture and work practices. However, empirical evidence from user sites has shown how the adoption of Open Source software can reduce the costs of acquisition of both software and hardware. In considering the implications of migrating to OSS, organisations should undertake a comparison of costs and benefits, and take into account the full lifecycle costs of continuing to use, support and upgrade proprietary software. The growth in the adoption of Open Source software raises implications for future Government policy which, if it is to encourage future developments and deliver alternatives, will necessitate a more joined up approach. OGC and the e-government Unit (egu) will continue to work closely on the implementation of the government s OSS Policy. Recommendations Public sector bodies should: - examine carefully the technical and business case for implementation of Open Source software and the role which OSS could play in current and future projects, working with their outsourced IT providers where appropriate; - review the potential for server consolidation, comparing the benefits of OSS with proprietary solutions; - consider the potential costs and benefits of migration to an OSS desktop for transaction users, (potentially in conjunction with use of thin client architecture solutions); - identify the role of open standards in future IS/IT strategy and policy, in conformance with the e-government Interoperability Framework (egif); - consider requirements for the development of skills in Open Source development, deployment and operation within the organisation, and review the availability of such skills in their outsourced IT service providers; - review their current infrastructure and applications - in collaboration with their outsourced IT providers where relevant - well in advance of any planned procurement or renewal, and determine whether current technologies and IT policies inhibit future choice; and if so consider what steps may be necessary to prevent future lock in ; - consider the benefits of incremental change by diversifying OSS use beyond the server platform to products like , LDAP, Web and internet Browser. 3

31 1 Introduction 1.1 The rise of Open Source software The adoption of Open Source software has for some time been recognised by public and private sector organisations around the world as a viable alternative to proprietary software in an increasing number of areas of information systems implementation. It is also widely perceived that Open Source software has the potential to deliver better value for money over the lifetime of information systems. In the UK, the Office of the e-envoy published a report on Analysis of the Impact of Open Source Software in 2001 (Qinetiq, 2001); this concluded that OSS is indeed the start of a fundamental change in the software infrastructure marketplace. The Office of the e-envoy with OGC published version 1 of the government s policy on Open Source software ( Open Source Software Use within UK Government ) in July 2002; version 2 will be released later in OGC published Open Source Software: Guidance on implementing UK government policy in September 2002; version 2 is due to be released later in Many overseas administrations have published studies on the role and benefits of Open Source software, and many overseas governments and local authorities have taken steps to reduce their dependence on proprietary software and move towards the adoption of Open Source. In July 2002 the EU published a report Free/Libre Open Source Software: Survey and Study (the FLOSS report), and in 2003 it published The IDA Open Source Migration Guidelines, which provide practical and detailed recommendations on how to migrate to OSS-based office applications. 1.2 Proof of Concept trials In view of the increasing interest in Open Source in both the private and public sectors, OGC and the Office of the e-envoy wished to assemble evidence on the use and benefits of Open Source from public sector organisations in the UK. In September 2003 OGC initiated a project, supported by the Office of the e-envoy, to facilitate Proof of Concept trials of Open Source software in a range of public sector bodies in conjunction with IBM. In December 2003 this arrangement was extended by OGC to include the involvement of Sun Microsystems. Both suppliers offered to work with demonstration case study sites, and to provide facilities and resources to support planning and implementation activities in collaboration with each of the public sector bodies. The objective of the trials was to obtain information from live customer situations on a number of key issues: - The viability of OSS; is OSS a credible alternative to proprietary software? - Obstacles to implementation of OSS; what factors may inhibit the adoption of OSS, and how can they be overcome? - The costs and benefits of OSS; what evidence is there for the value for money derived from adoption of OSS? - Lessons learned in planning, implementation and operation of OSS. 4

32 The Proof of Concept trials ran from end-2003 to mid-2004; the progress of the trials varied between customer sites, depending partly on the ability of the customer organisations to fit in the necessary work on top of day-to-day operating pressures. In order to extend the scope of the information gathering, OGC has included in this report information gathered from contacts with customer sites in the UK outside the designated trial sites, and information on OSS deployments in public sector administrations elsewhere in Europe, for which details are publicly available on the Internet. 1.3 Acknowledgements OGC would like to acknowledge the support given by IBM and Sun, and the cooperation of the organisations which participated in the trials and information gathering. Notes: IBM, the IBM logo, the On Demand logo and the e-business logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Sun, Sun Microsystems, and the Sun Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Microsoft, Encarta, MSN, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. 2 Open Source: Background Note: Much of the material in this section is taken from the OGC publication Open Source Software Guidance on Implementing UK Government Policy (see references). 2.1 What is Open Source? Open Source Software (OSS) is: Software where the source code (the language in which the program is written) is freely distributed with the right to modify the code, and on the condition that redistribution is not restricted, and indeed is obtainable for no more than the reasonable cost of reproduction. In contrast, vendors of closed, proprietary, software provide only executable binary code, and not the human readable source from which that code is derived. Proprietary software vendors usually also place very specific limits on redistribution of the software. The full formal definition of OSS published by the Open Source Initiative is available at: Scope of OSS - spread of usage OSS is not ubiquitous. Aside from its strong presence in developer tools such as compilers, interpreters and scripting languages, areas where it is particularly strong are currently mainly infrastructure related, i.e. operating systems, firewalls, application 5

33 level relays and proxy servers, web servers, file and print servers, domain name servers, mail transport servers and network news transports. For example, Linux has a very strong presence in the infrastructure market as a server platform, and the most widely used Web server in the world today is the Apache Open Source server. As yet, with the exception of some niche areas such as graphics manipulation, OSS is not strong in the application arena (such as Database Management Software, ERP or Financial Systems). We are seeing a strong trend towards suppliers of application software porting their applications to Open Source operating systems such as GNU/Linux. We are also beginning to see strong OSS alternatives to the dominant desktop and personal productivity software and we expect this trend to continue and, indeed, accelerate. For example, OpenOffice.org is the largest Open Source project in the world, and over 30 million downloads of the OpenOffice desktop software suite have been made from the OpenOffice.org web site. 2.3 Adoption of Open Source Benefits It tends to have strong support for open standards for interoperability. This complements UK Government s insistence on interoperability standards through mandatory compliance with e-gif. OSS is supplier independent. This is attractive in cases where Government would normally insist on a software escrow agreement. If OSS is used then the source code is already available to the purchaser (as well as the wider community) and Government could simply take that code to a new supplier should the original supplier disappear or withdraw support for whatever reason. OSS has lower licensing costs. Most OSS is distributed under one of a range of Public Licences which mandate that the code should be available to all for little more than the cost of distribution. However, purchasers should note that OSS is not synonymous with free software. Some free software is actually distributed in binary (compiled) form in the same way as proprietary software. One of the main benefits in greater use of OSS may arise from the pressure that OSS s lower licensing costs puts on proprietary software licences. OSS tends to be portable to a wider range of platforms. Even where a particular platform is not currently supported, the open availability of the source code allows the community to port that software to a new platform relatively quickly. Platform independence gives the purchaser a wider choice of hardware in any procurement. Patches or updates to OSS following discovery of faults such as security vulnerabilities tend to be produced very rapidly, often within hours or days of announcement of the discovery of a problem. Users of closed source proprietary software are dependent upon the software vendor to release an upgraded binary version. This process can take considerably longer, leaving the user vulnerable to known threats. Avoidance of proprietary lock-in. OSS tends to be written to be independent of any other related product. Purchasers can often assume that one software product will work best with another from the same family produced by the same manufacturer. Use of OSS offers users greater freedom to purchase other products, thus reducing the tendency to lock-in. 6

34 OSS: Perceived weaknesses or drawbacks Uncertainty as to what exactly constitutes OSS and what its relative strengths and weaknesses are. Fear that support can be fragmented or difficult to obtain, particularly for niche products. That fear may now be misplaced. Public sector bodies should note in particular that many large suppliers such as IBM, Sun and HP are investing considerable effort and providing tier 1 support for the GNU/Linux operating system. Further, many proprietary software suppliers are porting their applications to run under GNU/Linux. Linux distributors have also extended their support lifecycles for their product sets. We expect this trend to continue and accelerate. Misunderstanding of the licensing and IPR implications of using or purchasing OSS. Difficulties in identifying appropriate OSS applications for particular business problems. Because OSS is not advertised in quite the same way as is proprietary software, public sector bodies may not be aware that a particular OSS product is available to meet their needs or that a product exists which could meet their needs after minor tailoring. Documentation can be idiosyncratic or sometimes non-existent. Many OSS developers are primarily motivated by exciting and/or innovative software development. They are less motivated to produce the sort of documentation that commercial buyers expect to see accompanying software. Where public sector bodies purchase systems which have a significant element of OSS embedded in them it is reasonable to request business-like documentation as part of the contract. Lack of real world experience and support for migration from closed proprietary software installations to OSS. Procurements are rarely made in green-field sites. Purchasers must be able to integrate OSS with their existing installed base and must understand how to migrate from a single supplier product set to a more diverse product set. OSS often lags behind proprietary software in support for new hardware. Largely this is the result of the hardware suppliers themselves not releasing new drivers to the OSS community on time. But, as with the issue of maintenance and support, that problem is diminishing as the hardware suppliers themselves begin to use and market OSS on their platforms. 2.4 OSS in the UK: OeE/OGC policy The key decisions of the Office of the e-envoy and OGC OSS Policy (published in July 2002) are: UK Government will consider OSS solutions alongside proprietary ones in IT procurements. Contracts will be awarded on a value for money basis. UK Government will only use products for interoperability that support open standards and specifications in all future IT developments. UK Government will seek to avoid lock-in to proprietary IT products and services. UK Government will consider obtaining full rights to bespoke software code or customisations of COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) software it procures wherever this achieves best value for money. 7

35 UK Government will explore further the possibilities of using OSS as the default exploitation route for Government funded R&D software. The justification for adopting this policy is: There is a need to always procure a solution that gives value for money. This may be an OSS solution, or a proprietary one, or a mixture of both. Decisions should be made on a case by case basis. There is a need to ensure that interoperability of systems is provided and maintained. The e-gif is mandated across the public sector and compliance with that is essential to the provision of e-services and joined-up Government. Every effort should be made to reduce the cost and risk to government systems. Adopting this policy helps achieve that by: purchasing best value for money solutions removing the reliance on individual IT suppliers providing more flexibility in the development, enhancement and integration of systems vesting the ownership of bespoke and tailored software code with Government. Security of government systems is vital. Properly configured OSS can be at least as secure as proprietary systems, and OSS is currently subject to fewer Internet attacks. A balance needs to be struck between the availability of security administration skills and the advantages of many diverse systems. Version 2 of the OSS Policy is due to be published in OSS in overseas administrations Many overseas administrations and government-sponsored bodies have examined the role and benefits of OSS, and several have published their policies in relation to the adoption of Open Source software. A selection of the reports available in English on the Internet is listed in Annex A. National and local governments which have moved to the adoption of Open Source software include: - The city of Munich in Germany is migrating 14,000 desktops to a Linux platform, with OpenOffice as the office suite and Mozilla as the internet browser; the migration is expected to be complete by 2008/2009; - The city of Bergen in Norway is migrating 20 database servers and 100 application servers to the Linux platform; - The City Council of Barcelona in Spain has decided to migrate the city s IT systems and desktops to Open Source software; - The region of Extremadura in SW Spain has been relying on Open Source software for several years; it has developed a network and services based on Open Source, used by schools and universities, local businesses, the general public and the regional and local administration; currently over 100,000 users are connected; - The French Ministry of Equipment is replacing 1500 office and infrastructure servers with Linux servers; 8

36 - The Indian Department of Information Technology has developed a strategy to introduce Linux and open source software as de facto standards in academic institutions; - The People s Republic of China plans to install at least 200 million copies of an Open Source-based desktop solution throughout the country, following an agreement between Sun Microsystems and the China Standard Software Co. Ltd. 3 Case Studies: Scope 3.1 Functional scope In supporting the Proof of Concept trials of Open Source software, OGC aimed to gather information on the deployment of Open Source software in a number of distinct functional roles: - Open Source infrastructure software: Migration to OSS as the platform for servers, together with OSS infrastructure software for server functions such as file and print servers, domain name servers, web servers and servers; - Open Source on the desktop: - Migration to OSS desktop office suite and personal productivity software only, on existing platform; - Migration to Open Source desktop platform together with OSS desktop office suite and personal productivity software; - Open Source applications: Migration to OSS enterprise-level business applications to replace proprietary applications packages. Most of these scenarios were represented in the Proof of Concept trials. There was experience reported of migrating servers and desktops to Open Source, but limited evidence of migrating or converting major applications to Open Source. 3.2 Evaluation It was recognised that the organisations involved would generally not be able to continue to operate proprietary and OSS infrastructure software in parallel, so any evaluations within an organisation would have to be based on: - Before (proprietary) and After (OSS) measurements - where these were available, given that various other parameters in the situation might also have changed; and/or - Assessments and projections made as part of the planning for migration to OSS, for example in business cases or modelling exercises undertaken by the customer organisation. The trial sites varied considerably in the extent to which they were able to measure comparative costs and benefits over the period of the trials. 3.3 Costs and benefits It was intended to seek information where possible on cost/benefit comparisons between the proprietary and OSS approaches to implementation including: 9

37 - planning, acquisition, piloting and deployment of new software and any corresponding hardware, including any costs of migration and conversion of information assets, and any retraining of user and support staff; - operation of the new software (proprietary or OSS), including steady state system management and administration, and user support; - replacement and upgrade of the software, and any corresponding hardware upgrades. The information which was sought from the customer sites was: - assessments of financial costs and benefits arising from the deployment of OSS, compared with the actual or projected costs and benefits of proprietary software; - assessments of the qualitative benefits derived from the deployment of OSS; - lessons learned from the migration to OSS. 3.4 Sources of information To supplement the information provided from the Proof of Concept trial sites, OGC also contacted other public sector sites in the UK with relevant experience, and gathered information available in the public domain on public sector sites overseas which have migrated to Open Source solutions or are planning such migrations. A list of all the sites referenced in the study, with background material for each site, is at Annex C. 4 Case Studies: Results 4.1 Open Source: Servers The case study sites confirmed the widespread view that Open Source software is a viable platform for network server infrastructure. Organisations chose Linux as the platform for their server infrastructure on the basis of cost savings on software licences, improved security and better performance. Many of the sites were using Linux-based servers, for a variety of purposes including web access, support, file and print, and applications support. The MoD Defence Academy has based its complete Intranet and Internet configuration on Linux platforms, supporting Open Source applications such as Apache, Zope and Plone. The LinEx network in Extremadura is based entirely on Linux servers running Open Source server applications. Several sites were able to accomplish significant savings by consolidating servers Powys, for example, expect to reduce their 60 servers to fewer than 10. There were no problems with system security reported by the case study sites. The view of the MoD Defence Academy is that a server infrastructure based on Open Source software is inherently more secure than one based on proprietary software. A number of the case study sites were using Linux platforms to support server-based business applications, either purchased packages or developed locally. Central 10

38 Scotland Police, for example, are planning to develop an Electronic Document and Records Management System on their Linux servers. The current exercise has shown the adoption of Linux to be relatively straightforward where (as in the West Sussex experience) there are existing Unix skills. 4.2 Open Source: Desktops Several of the case study sites had migrated, or were in the course of migrating, their desktops to the StarOffice desktop personal productivity suite or, less commonly, the OpenOffice suite, based on either a Linux platform or the existing Windows platform. StarOffice is not open source software but it has been included in this report for two reasons: - StarOffice has been developed from the OpenOffice project, with commercial elements added, and sold as a commercial product. It has very similar functionality to OpenOffice and the case studies described in this report demonstrate that the functionality is adequate to replace conventional proprietary software; - The development of StarOffice is carried out using open source methods, and this facilitated the rapid introduction of new features in one of the case studies reported here. No other OSS desktop suites were represented in the trials. Most sites quoted cost savings on software licences as the primary reason for wishing to migrate. The experience of the sites was that the functionality of OpenOffice and StarOffice is adequate for the majority of users typically those performing procedural and routine activities and accessing only transaction systems. There are some differences between StarOffice applications and the corresponding functions in Microsoft Office, but these do not affect most standard uses of the software. Most sites expected to continue to run a mixed economy of StarOffice and Microsoft Office; continued use of Microsoft Office by some users was supported, to accommodate those who required: - access to complex facilities not available in StarOffice; - compatibility with Microsoft Office for interoperability with external sites; - compatibility with back-office applications. Interoperability was not seen as a major issue for most business purposes. Word processing documents, for example, can be exchanged using the ability of StarOffice to read and produce documents in Microsoft Word format. StarOffice also enables users to produce documents in Adobe Acrobat format, which facilitates document exchange. In the LinEx network in Extremadura, Open Source software only is used on all desktops. However, compatibility with Microsoft Access proved problematic for OGCbuying.solutions, and all the trials sites recognised the need to retain proprietary software on some desktops to handle the more complex documents, and to maintain interoperability with external sites including some requirements for electronic document exchange with central government departments. The experience of the case study sites suggests a number of guidelines for organisations considering migration to Open Source desktop solutions: 11

39 - careful planning is essential, including a review of the current use of desktop packages and facilities, and the types of documents which will need to be migrated; - allow adequate time and effort for training of users, and reorienting them to the new desktop environment; training should be geared to the way in which the desktop packages will be integrated into the working practices of the organisation; be prepared to manage the expectations of users; - plan for migration of users, desktops, files and documents, and desktop applications; allow for parallel working where necessary; - pilot the migration exercise with a subset of users; identify those users who will migrate most easily, and start with them; - define the baseline hardware platform and desktop configuration required, and plan for implementation across the organisation. Several sites noted that migration to Open Source desktops provided an opportunity for revising work practices and operational standards, as well as procedures for administration, system management and security. There was some experience of thin client implementation among the trial sites. Penwith DC is successfully running Sun thin client desktops with StarOffice, and Beaumont Hospital initially implemented a thin client architecture but were limited by their internal network capacity. Several sites expected to investigate thin clients more closely in the future, on the basis of the potential savings possible in desktop hardware platforms, and easier administration of system facilities. 4.3 Open Source: Business Applications The case study sites included examples of: - deployment of Open Source applications acquired as software packages under OSS licences; - local development of applications to run on Open Source platforms; - deployment of proprietary software packages configured by the supplier to operate on Open Source platforms typically on a Linux platform. In some cases, the portfolio of OSS applications in use is extensive such as in the LinEx network in Extremadura, which provides a range of services based totally on Open Source software packages, both licensed and locally developed. However, the software packages available under Open Source licences are typically limited in scope; there were no examples of licensed OSS application packages being used for mission-critical business services. Several sites encountered problems with the migration of existing applications to an Open Source platform. Issues which needed to be addressed included: - applications which use embedded facilities of proprietary packages; - applications which operate in a proprietary software environment but are incompatible with equivalent Open Source packages (such as an Open Source browser); 12

40 - proprietary applications which are not available in a version suitable for deployment on an Open Source platform. These instances suggest that public sector bodies should be aware of the potential problems in migrating applications to new platforms, and considering the future portability of applications as an important factor in application portfolio planning. 5 Open Source Considerations This section discusses a number of general issues in relation to Open Source software, not directly arising from the information gathered from the Proof of Concept trials. 5.1 Security There is no definitive answer on the relative security merits of open- or closed-source software. The structure of the Linux/UNIX operating system is regarded by many as inherently more secure than that of proprietary operating systems, and Open Source software is less likely to be attacked by viruses than proprietary software. The Open Source code can be viewed in its entirety and in the event of a problem the worldwide Linux community can act to resolve any issue with urgency. However, while some argue that many eyes lead to fewer security flaws, others argue that those wishing to exploit, or tamper with, open source code have an easier time than with closed source code. This study has not investigated these claims in any detail either way. In practice, correct configuration and patching of any system is the first essential, whether based on open- or closed-source software. Recent developments such as the U.S. National Security Agency's security extensions to Linux (also being developed as TrustedBSD) are, however, generating significant interest as they make 'high-end' security mechanisms available to a much wider community than hitherto. Governments around the world see advantages in these developments and are deploying Linux to meet highly secure needs. Military and Defence organisations in particular have been quick to seize on this particular advantage of Linux. In addition, OSS has until now been less prone to attack from hackers; it is also possible to lock down the kernel to provide a highly robust and secure platform. These features have led to the deployment of Linux in many secure projects (e.g. for the US Department of Homeland Security). A recent marketplace survey of 500 IT departments quoted Security as the second reason for Linux use over and above Total Cost of Ownership. 5.2 Role of System Integrators in adoption of OSS Despite the significant momentum around Linux and OSS adoption, many service providers running outsourced services for public sector bodies seem uncertain about providing services to support the Open Source environment. This is surprising since most service providers have the necessary skills and are running significant elements of their own infrastructure on Linux today. If the service provider has Unix skills then in all likelihood they also have Linux skills. There can be a lack of communication between the commercial operators of the outsourcing contracts and the technical teams within the service providers. If Linux and OSS, including Open Source personal productivity software for desktops, make sense for a particular project then the public sector body should check that their current service provider has the confidence to deliver a service incorporating Open Source software where appropriate. The service 13

41 provider should be asked to outline their own use of Linux to support their IT infrastructures. When making a decision on the selection of a future service provider, the user organisation should satisfy itself that the proposed provider can deliver capability on OSS and the Linux platform; even if these are not a defined requirement today it would be wise to ensure the service provider contract has this capability as an option. Many service providers are realising the significant commercial benefits to both themselves and their customers of deploying OSS and infrastructure based on Linux. The structure of some existing contracts might make the adoption of OSS desktops or Linux-based infrastructure unpalatable for some providers today. User organisations should be aware of whether their service provider might fall into this category. In one example a server consolidation of 180 Windows NT servers into 6 Intel/Linux servers was possible; user organisations should consider whether their server topology would enable a similar consolidation, and what effect this would have on their current outsourcing contract. 5.3 Legal issues Organisations should be aware of a number of legal issues when considering Open Source products. (a) The Open Source Licence Under Open Source licensing an organisation can, if it wishes, modify the software and release the modified version into the public domain. The licence may require that the source code of the modification is also made available, putting the IPR into the public domain.. This may not be necessary if modified software is used within an organisation only, but the licence should be checked to ensure that this is the case. (b) The SCO suit SCO owns the rights to the main Unix operating system, Unix System 5 release 4, and claim that IBM, who licensed Unix from them, had copied a substantial amount of code into the Linux operating system and are in breach of SCO s copyright. SCO launched a lawsuit against IBM in 2003 which is still ongoing. If proven, SCO s claim might enable them to claim royalties from some Linux users and they have entered into a number of suits against companies using both Linux and Unix. In the only case to be resolved, at time of writing, against DaimlerChrysler, the suit was substantially rejected. Organisations considering using Linux should consider the risk from this case and act accordingly some suppliers offer indemnification against legal action on systems supplied from them, this should be checked during the procurement process. (c) Patents The European Union is considering changes to the EU directive on software patenting which could have an impact on existing Open Source Software. Again the risk should be taken into account when considering Open Source solutions. The implementation 14

42 of Open Source in the City of Munich was delayed for a short period while this was considered, but it was not judged a large enough risk to jeopardise the project. 5.4 Procurement issues UK government policy is that Open Source products will be considered alongside proprietary ones, on a value for money basis. This requires that. - The product specification is based on function and does not include proprietary requirements, for example a word processor capable of reading and writing Microsoft Word files covers Word and a number of Open Source products. - The organisation s internal processes are not tied to proprietary standards, limiting the choice to proprietary software. It is important to realise that the pricing model for Open Source is different to that for proprietary software. When an Open Source product is purchased the customer is usually paying for. - The media on which the software and manual are delivered - Support for the software. 5.5 Hardware resources and the Green agenda One of the benefits frequently put forward for the use of Open Source Software is the level of resources needed to support it. This means that for equivalent Open Source and Microsoft Windows systems, the Open Source system will require less memory and a slower processor speed for the same functionality. Open Source operating systems such as Linux do not usually have the regular major upgrades that are a feature of Windows, and thus do not have the requirement that goes with these upgrades for a new or upgraded computer to run them. This means that a computer running Linux can have a significantly longer working life than an equivalent computer running Windows. This has the potential to impact significantly on costs, including purchase of software and hardware, and indirectly by reducing business disruption whilst implementing change and upgrading. There are also potential Green Agenda benefits, through reducing the energy and resources consumed in manufacturing replacement equipment, and reducing landfill requirements and costs arising from disposal of redundant equipment. Industry observers quote a typical hardware refresh period for Microsoft Windows systems as 3-4 years; a major UK manufacturing organisation quotes its hardware refresh period for Linux systems as 6-8 years. 6 Conclusions and recommendations On the basis of the empirical evidence and experience reported from the trials sites and elsewhere, the current study has concluded that: 15

43 - Viability of OSS: Open Source software is a viable and credible alternative to proprietary software for infrastructure implementations, and for meeting the requirements of the majority of desktop users; - Obstacles to implementation: The main obstacles to widespread implementation of Open Source software are: for desktop applications, the current lack of complex functionality which can affect ease of migration and interoperability for some organisations; and for business applications, the lack of Open Source products to compete with large-scale proprietary enterpriselevel products; no significant obstacles were noted for the adoption of Open Source in infrastructure developments; - Costs and benefits: Adoption of Open Source software can generate significant savings in hardware and software costs for infrastructure implementation, and reduce the licensing costs and hardware refresh requirements for desktop implementation; - Lessons learned: Adoption of Open Source, particularly for the desktop, requires investment in planning, training of users, development of skills for implementation and support, and detailed consideration of migration and interoperability issues. There are currently three main potential areas of implementation of OSS - on servers, the desktop and business applications, and these are currently at differing levels of maturity. OSS Server and infrastructure products, generally based on Linux, are now perceived by the market as mature, gaining increasing acceptance, and delivering significant value for money opportunities. The experience of the trials sites confirmed this view. Inevitably cost comparisons cannot always be limited to the use of OSS alone, particularly in areas like server consolidation, which generate significant savings in their own right. However, there are still potential savings to be made that can reduce server costs significantly. Since these implementations are currently minimal in the public sector there is significant potential to generate savings both by undertaking server consolidation where appropriate and using OSS software. OSS Desktop products (including desktop platforms such as Linux, and office personal productivity suites) are developing but there still has been little significant widespread implementation, though these are currently starting to be rolled out in public sector bodies in other European countries. Reports from the trials sites showed that generally OSS personal productivity software (such as OpenOffice or Sun s StarOffice) is adequate for transaction users, whose work is largely procedural and routine, and who constituted typically around 85-90% of the desktop users in the trial sites; but the software is not yet widely accepted for use by knowledge workers or power users. The key issues here remain migration and interoperability of complex files and, though Open Source desktop applications have improved significantly, there can still be problems for the minority of files (such as some word processing documents and spreadsheets) which make use of complex features. OSS Business Applications generally are still immature, and the scope of business applications available as Open Source software is limited. Those applications that do exist as Open Source are currently more appropriate for small or medium-sized businesses than for large public sector bodies, as they lack industrial strength. The 16

44 database market has Linux and OSS offerings today to meet local departmental needs, with further significant developments expected in the next 2-4 years. In addition, many suppliers of proprietary software applications are making their products available on Open Source platforms. The experience of some of the trials sites has shown how previous choices of technology can lock in the organisation to proprietary products and make it more difficult to migrate to open source alternatives. The short timescales of the current exercise, and in some cases the desire of trials sites to maintain confidentiality of financial details, have prevented OGC from coming to any firm quantified conclusions regarding the comparative total costs of ownership of OSS and proprietary software. In addition, it is always difficult to identify the benefits arising from migration to OSS in isolation from the impact of changes in other areas such as the system architecture and work practices. However, empirical evidence from user sites has shown how the adoption of Open Source software can reduce the costs of acquisition of both software and hardware. In considering the implications of migrating to OSS, organisations should undertake a comparison of costs and benefits, and take into account the full lifecycle costs of continuing to use, support and upgrade proprietary software. In the light of the outcomes of the Proof of Concept trials, OGC recommends that public sector bodies should: - examine carefully the technical and business case for implementation of Open Source software and the role which OSS could play in current and future projects, working with their outsourced IT providers where appropriate; - review the potential for server consolidation, comparing the benefits of OSS with proprietary solutions; - consider the potential costs and benefits of migration to an OSS desktop for transaction users, (potentially in conjunction with use of thin client architecture solutions); - identify the role of open standards in future IS/IT strategy and policy, in conformance with the e-government Interoperability Framework (egif); - consider requirements for the development of skills in Open Source development, deployment and operation within the organisation, and review the availability of such skills in their outsourced IT service providers; - review their current infrastructure and applications - in collaboration with their outsourced IT providers where relevant - well in advance of any planned procurement or renewal, and determine whether current technologies and IT policies inhibit future choice; and if so consider what steps may be necessary to prevent future lock in ; - consider the benefits of incremental change by diversifying OSS use beyond the server platform to products like , LDAP, Web and internet Browser. 17

45 Annexes A References, sources of information UK government reports Analysis of the Impact of Open Source Software QinetiQ Open Source Software Use within UK Government e-government Unit Open Source Software: Guidelines on Implementing UK Government Policy OGC Note: OGC cannot guarantee the validity of the following Internet references, and is not responsible for the contents of the sites referenced. Reference to a commercial site does not constitute an endorsement by OGC. International reports (English-version documents only are referenced) EU Free/Libre and Open Source Software: Survey and Study (FLOSS report) The IDA Open Source Migration Guidelines (netproject Ltd for IDA) Study into the use of OSS in the public sector (IDA) Pooling Open Source Software Feasibility Study (IDA) List of studies and reports on OSS (IDA) Canada Open Source Software in Canada Denmark Open Source Software in e-government The Danish Software Strategy 18

46 Finland Recommendation on the openness of the code and interfaces of state information systems Linux in government France Guide to choosing and using free software licences for government and public sector entities Germany Open Source Software in the Federal Administration Open Source Migration Guide Malaysia Malaysian Public Sector Open Source Software Implementation Netherlands Programme for Open Standards and Open Source Software in Government (OSOSS) New Zealand Open Source Software Briefing to the Minister of State Services Sweden Free and Open Source Software Feasibility Study USA Use of Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) in the US Department of Defense Other sources of information The Center of Open Source and Government IDA Interchange of Data between Administrations European Commission: Open Source Observatory 19

47 The Open Source Initiative The table of equivalents/replacements/analogs of Windows software in Linux List of Open Source Software Packages SourceForge: Open Source Software Development Website 20

48 B Contacts OGC Contact the OGC Service Desk on e-government Unit e-government Unit Cabinet Office Stockley House 130 Wilton Road London SW1V 1LQ +44 (0) IBM Nicola Bolton Government Industry Director IBM United Kingdom Ltd +44 (0) Sun Richard Barrington Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy Sun Microsystems Ltd +44 (0)

49 C Details of Case Studies Sites participating in the Proof of Concept trials Central Scotland Police e-government Unit Office of Water Services (OFWAT) OGCbuying.solutions Powys CC A government department Other UK sites contacted by OGC MoD Defence Academy Penwith DC West Sussex CC A government department A large local authority Case Studies from elsewhere in Europe Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland City of Munich, Germany Extremadura, Spain 22

50 Central Scotland Police Background Central Scotland Police (CSP) have around 1000 users; IT facilities are managed in-house. CSP originally ran green screen terminals, but by 1997 had moved to personal computers and a small number of Windows/Microsoft Office desktops. In 2000 they made the decision to move to StarOffice 5.2 with a small number of Microsoft Office users where necessary. CSP are about to commission a new, 85 seat Area Command office at Falkirk. The desktops in this office will be StarOffice running on Linux. IBM Trial CSP had a requirement for a document management system to support their requirements for Freedom of Information. IBM produced a prototype system to meet this requirement which was successfully demonstrated in April/May The document management system consists of a system built using IBM Domino driving a DB2 database, with no additional licensing costs. CSP and IBM are developing the system and a small number of key processes, plus training for their staff in process development. The system will run on two mirrored Linux-based servers, at Falkirk and Stirling, to give security. The overall cost is about 60,000 but the system is flexible enough to develop into an Electronic Document and Record Management System (EDRMS) so the long term savings will be considerable quotes for EDRMS have been as high as 700,000. Open Source savings are limited to the savings on two servers, which will be of the order of 20-30K over 5 years. Open Source Desktop A decision was made in 2000 to rationalise and adopt a standard office application as far as possible across the organisation. The cost of Microsoft Office per seat led to a trial of StarOffice. The trial was successful and StarOffice was adopted for the majority of users. Approximately 15% of users retained Microsoft Office for reasons of compatibility with back office systems, or the need to exchange Microsoft Office documents with external authorities. The cost of StarOffice is 8,000 per annum in support costs. CSP is moving towards platform independent processes accessed via a browser and client. Since most processes involve a back-office system for example when officers enter statements or reports the majority of desktops do not need word processing or spreadsheet software. Lessons CSP has adopted StarOffice for the majority of users who require desktop systems with 15% retaining Microsoft Office. CSP is actively moving towards platform-independent back office systems. The impetus for change has come from the adoption of a Best Value culture and the review of efficiency throughout the whole organisation. 23

51 e-government Unit Background The Knowledge Network provides Digital interactive Television Services (DiTV) to both Central and Local Government. The system currently runs live in a Windows operating system environment. Trials The trial proposed as part of the OSS trials was that there would be merit in reproducing the DiTV environment with an identical software and hardware configuration but running in a Linux environment. The trial would seek to provide information in a number of areas. 1. Issues identification for areas which would need to be addressed before Linux could be used within the live Knowledge Network infrastructure; in particular: Optimisation of the software configuration to maximise the strengths of Linux as an operating platform Appropriate security requirements for the hardening of the operating platform Analysis of support issues which could impact delivery of live service. 2. Production of metrics to assess the relative performance of the two environments in terms of: Any changes to the performance of the application from a user perspective Any changes to the number of users which could be supported in each environment both in terms of concurrency and maximums. The build of the infrastructure with the Linux operating system was successful and proved to be stable. IBM provided suitable support to overcome some of the deficiencies in available documentation for the use of the Knowledge Network software portfolio on the Linux operating system. Lessons learned The build has proved that Linux is a viable server side operating environment for this service. The trials, as expected, identified a number of areas which would require further investigation before a live system could be deployed. In particular, although the operating system was hardened to a certain degree as part of the trial it was apparent that further work would be required to produce an operating environment suitable to be accredited from a security perspective in order to allow live running. As this hardened environment was not in place it proved, within the timeframe of the trial, impossible to run meaningful load tests to establish whether there are performance improvements between the platforms. The initial findings from the trial were very positive and have encouraged further work to move forward the potential for the use of Linux in the Knowledge Network s infrastructure build. The identification of the appropriate hardened Linux environment is underway and will include the production of the metrics which it was not possible to complete as part of the trials. 24

52 Office of Water Services (Ofwat) Background Ofwat is the economic regulator of the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales. It has 250 staff in all. The IT infrastructure is currently NT server and client, and Lotus Domino server and client software. The desktop is Microsoft NT and Office 97 with a few systems for converting files from new versions of Office and old Wordperfect documents. Various third party software applications are used for areas such as finance, personnel, etc. The main in-house software application is the Aquarius financial model, a Microsoft SQL Server database back end with a VB/Excel front end system. All IT is managed in-house. There are 4 technical staff, 1 helpdesk for support, and 4 development staff. Ofwat is facing a costly upgrade to Windows XP as Microsoft support for Windows NT has ended. IBM Trial OFWAT wished to determine the feasibility of migrating the desktop to Linux/StarOffice and the servers to Linux. IBM installed a Lotus Domino server and client machine and carried out 2 feasibility studies on the Aquarius software to determine whether it was possible to access it via a Linux desktop. The options considered were: - A costly rewrite of the Aquarius software to run on Linux; - Running a mixed environment, with Microsoft desktops for users of Aquarius and Linux for other staff. Increased support costs would be offset by savings from using Linux desktops; - Upgrade to Microsoft XP/Server Ofwat is currently undertaking an option appraisal with input from IBM (Linux) and Civica (Microsoft). Lessons The main obstacle to change is the Aquarius software which uses Microsoft Excel and relies on Visual Basic macros to function. At the time this system was originated there was no viable alternative to Windows. The study concluded that rewriting the application would be expensive (but possible), and a mixed Windows/Linux environment may be the most cost effective short/medium term solution; users of the Aquarius application (and power users of Microsoft Office) would continue to use Windows, while most users would migrate to Linux/StarOffice. Ofwat s experience with the Aquarius application suggests that any new software project should be planned using open standards to allow maximum choice of desktop in the future. 25

53 Office of Government Commerce Buying Solutions (OGCbs) Background OGC Buying Solutions is an Executive Agency of OGC providing procurement services to the public sector. Buying Solutions currently uses Microsoft Windows 2000 desktops and Microsoft Office software. Because of potential savings a pilot trial was launched to determine the viability of an Open Source desktop in the OGCbs environment. The Trial A fixed period trial was planned involving 12 users: 10 based in Norwich, one based in Liverpool and one remote worker. The trial started in February 2004 with some initial work, carried out by the Buying Solutions IT team, into developing a suitable Linux desktop. A pilot desktop was set up by IBM and demonstrated to the trial users towards the end of May. The general response was favourable the desktop was regarded as easy to use and quite intuitive. The pilot desktop used SuSE Linux, StarOffice and the Mozilla browser. The project was then delayed until mid June awaiting approval for connection to the Government Secure Intranet. A further problem became apparent in relation to an Access database used by the OGCbs staff. There is no Open Source database which will handle Access databases in their native format and none of the solutions proposed was completely satisfactory. A new CRM system - Onyx - was installed by OGCbs. Onyx uses a browser interface but does not support the Open Source browser Mozilla, which is used in the pilot build. Because of these issues a recommendation was passed to the OGCbs senior management that the project be halted and lessons documented. This was accepted and the trial was halted. Key points The use of vendor specific systems, and their inability to operate in an Open Source environment, was the primary reason for halting this trial. 26

54 Powys County Council Background Powys is a geographically large, thinly spread authority with resources scattered over a wide area. There are 2000 users in 4 main sites and a number of smaller local offices. The authority has a history of devolved budgets for IT which has resulted in individual departments purchasing servers. As a result Powys has 60 servers across 4 main sites, 40 of which are in the main Powys offices at Llandrindod Wells. They have considerable experience of Linux as part of their infrastructure and have used it for over six years in schools and remote access points to manage file serving and . Moving to OSS The original requirement was for a server management system which would allow remote management of their server resources, and reduce the travel needed to manage remote servers. There are two IBM Linux-based projects running; - The Tivoli management software installation (procurement) - Samba file and print server (Proof of Concept trial) IBM have installed 2 working Linux File and Print servers integrated with the Powys Sun1 Directory/ /Calendar system. The authority s needs may be fulfilled by as few as 4-8 servers. They will be taking advice from IBM about the number and specification of servers needed. Powys plan to maintain the current 3 year refresh cycle and actively monitor the File and Print servers to identify the need to upgrade or replace before performance degrades. The trial servers are IBM boxes running Red Hat support costs for Red Hat are 400 per server per annum. VFM savings Replacing 60 servers with 4-8 servers will lead to considerable saving in hardware, licensing and support, as well as savings in space and power usage. The saving is primarily due to rationalisation of equipment rather than adoption of OSS. There are likely to be savings in software licensing, support and increased efficiency. These savings will be difficult to quantify until the new File and Print servers are operational. Future work Powys have identified a large quantity of data currently in Excel spreadsheets which they intend to move to an SQL database and access through a browser interface. They are considering the suitability of MySQL in comparison with Microsoft SQL server (single server software cost approx 800). Lessons The main benefits to Powys are around rationalisation of servers. The trial process has led to Powys identifying further areas where efficiency gains can be made. 27

55 A Government department Background The department has approximately 5,000 servers split as follows; - 2,500 Unix servers running Legacy applications; a project is already under way to rationalise down to a much smaller number of modern servers. - 2,500 Wintel servers running: Application distribution management Radia management suite Infrastructure File and Print System software DNS, Directory services (active directory) Commercial Off The Shelf software (COTS). For each 5 year refresh cycle these servers each cost 3k for hardware, 25k for licences and support costs - there are potential savings in licensing and support. The department view the Microsoft monopoly position as unhealthy from a procurement viewpoint. IBM trial Linux File and Print servers have been integrated into the network, using Active Directory for authentication. Ongoing work Further tests will be carried out to determine what proportion of remaining functionality will transfer to Linux servers. Issues The Radia application management software is not available for Linux, and Linux based commercial alternatives are more costly. Many COTS packages are not available for Linux. Other Issues raised As an indication of the cost of migration within a Microsoft framework, the cost of migration from Win95 to 2000 for the department was put at 10million. The desktop is seen as an area for future work especially around tailoring to the users requirements; many users within the department only require and access to data entry systems, and do not need an Office suite. The department s desktop management is outsourced and there were initial problems with getting information from the service provider. Lessons There are opportunities for savings using Linux servers. Use of software which is Windows specific limits choices. Cooperation is required from all involved parties. 28

56 MOD Defence Academy Background The Defence Academy comprises the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) in London, the Joint Service Command and Staff College (JSCSC), the Royal Military College of Science (RMCS), and the Defence Leadership Centre (DLC) on the Shrivenham/Watchfield site, as well as the Conflict Studies Research Centre (CSRC) at Camberley and the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre (AFCC) at Amport House near Andover. Currently desktops and servers are managed by Cranfield University; when this contract expires in 2006 it is likely to be replaced by an outsourcing agreement. The desktops are Microsoft Windows/Office, server is Open Source and Authentication is managed using OpenLDAP Open source projects. The Academy intranet and internet services are managed internally and are run on Open Source products Linux, Apache, Zope and Plone. The current system has been running for approx 2 years; previously the Academy used a Microsoft IIS server serving a static web site. Because of the large amount of information to be managed, and the need to update from a number of sources, there was a need for a content management system. A number of systems were evaluated including Microsoft and Tridium. Zope/Plone was chosen primarily on functionality, not on cost. The Internet/Intranet project required a considerable amount of development, and because of the nature of the Open Source community it was easy to identify high quality developers. Using a large proprietary supplier usually means having no control over the quality of developers. The down side is that currently there are a limited number of developers available. The Academy s experience is that using open source is a double win consultancy rates for developers tend to be 30% lower and development times are shorter. All of the Open Source software used has been security accredited by the MOD. The Academy s opinion is that Open Source software is more secure than the main proprietary equivalents for the following reasons. - Linux is a modular operating system consisting of relatively small components, which are more transparent in operation than a large integrated operating system. - Problems tend to be limited to one component of the operating system, and because each component is small in size it can be easily and quickly rectified. - The modular nature of Linux means that an installation can be limited to the components that are needed, reducing the number of ways the system can be attacked. Main points The open source intranet and extranet projects have been running successfully for two years. The open source Zope/Plone solution was chosen on its functionality, not cost. It is easier to identify good quality developers using open source. The systems are inherently more secure. 29

57 Penwith District Council Background In 2002 Penwith had approximately 300 staff and ran a Sun enterprise server with 165 dumb terminals and Windows PCs. To meet the recommendations of the IT Best Value Review and the requirements of e-government, a standard desktop was required across the organisation that delivered increased functionality. It was also highlighted that IT should also be extended to include all members of staff and Councillors. Move to OSS Since any system chosen would require substantial retraining for both users and IT staff, training was identified as a key factor but not a limitation. The decision was made on basis of best value. Options were: - Sun 450,000 overall cost. - Microsoft 480,000 for desktops only plus server cost plus back office software costs. Penwith chose to use a Sun thin client system (SunRay) running StarOffice, with a small number of Windows machines for those requiring a mobile solution or specific external compatibility/software. Adding additional users to the system incurs a fixed cost of approx 400 for a thin client workstation. Lessons Penwith have been running their Sun-based thin client system successfully for 2.5 years. Training was identified as key to a successful deployment. Penwith were early adopters and worked in true partnership with Sun Microsystems to achieve a 'best value' solution. 30

58 West Sussex County Council Background West Sussex CC required an infrastructure to run their E-business systems on. Having chosen IBM Websphere as the portal software, they considered Sun, Windows and Linux infrastructures on which to run it. West Sussex s existing server infrastructure is based on Sun and they had staff with Sun Solaris skills. Open source implementation There was a procurement in 2003 of E-Business infrastructure. The chosen system, Websphere running on Linux, was selected in preference to: - A Sun enterprise server system West Sussex s existing infrastructure platform - Websphere running on Windows The Linux system was around 480,000 cheaper than the Sun system and similar in price to the Windows system. Linux was chosen as a more reliable and stable platform than Windows. The cost savings are considerable but are mainly due to the cost of Sun hardware so this may not count as an Open Source saving. Original cost estimates Costs over 5 years Sun 989,067 Windows 467,242 Linux 510,889 During implementation of the Linux system it was found that 4 fewer servers were needed because some functions could be shared across servers; this would not have been possible with the Windows system. The saving due to this reduction in numbers was 34,000. Skills transfer from Sun Solaris to Linux was found to be straightforward. Two key staff members completed a 2 day training course and passed on their training to others. Implementation was completed on schedule and under budget as fewer servers than originally specified were required. Lessons West Sussex chose Linux over Windows because of its reliability and stability. 31

59 A Government department Background The organisation is undertaking a major program to update and improve its IT systems. A primary objective is to ensure that open systems and standards are applied appropriately. Whilst the desktop estate is Microsoft-based almost in its entirety it was evident that deployment of an open source, low cost alternative desktop could provide substantial savings. Sun Microsystems Java Desktop System (JDS) has been identified as a possible alternative desktop solution. In January 2004, an agreement was reached with Sun to conduct a trial of the JDS to assess its suitability for use as a desktop within the organisation. Sun Trial A number of criteria were identified for assessment in the trial; these included functionality, look and feel, interoperability, performance, reliability, system management and security. The ability to access legacy devices, and the compatibility of the JDS with existing peripherals was also investigated. For the trial three notebooks and 12 copies of the JDS were supplied by Sun. The evaluation took place in one of the organisation s offices where the machines were connected to the local network infrastructure. During the evaluation an issues register was maintained between the organisation and Sun Microsystems. A satisfactory response/ resolution was received from Sun Microsystems on all issues raised. Issues - There were problems opening files from Windows shared drives, and in using the JDS file manager to copy files. - Lack of integration with Microsoft Exchange server. - Lack of system management tools this was addressed by an upgrade, part-way through the trial. - Security local file encryption was not supported, though this will be available soon. The user password is held, unencrypted, in a configuration file for network printing this issue has not been resolved. Possible ways forward Indications are that the JDS is not yet suited for introduction into a Microsoft-based architecture, but it would be suitable for a green-field site. The organisation has procured a substantial number of JDS licences for deployment. Lessons There were difficulties introducing the JDS into a Microsoft architecture. Performance, and look and feel of the software, were very good and would enable easy migration. Sun were putting a lot of effort into addressing problems and supporting the users. 32

60 A large local authority Background The authority has 5000 desktop users, currently using a mixture of Win98 and WinXP. Desktop software is a mixture of Microsoft Office, WordPerfect and Lotus. Because of the cost of supporting the mixed environment, there was a need to rationalise the desktop software. The cost of a Microsoft Office solution led to an investigation of Open Source software. Move to OSS The authority s IT department carried out considerable research, contacting several councils and other organisations which are StarOffice users. From a cost point of view the case for StarOffice was compelling 5year licensing cost for 5000 users is approximately 186,000 against over 1.4 Million for Microsoft Office 2003 professional licenses. From a functional viewpoint, StarOffice was regarded as having all the features required by 90% of users. In addition StarOffice has features lacking in Microsoft Office, including PDF export, XML primary file format, and more robust bullet and numbering facilities. A pilot using StarOffice 6 was set up for 600 users in one of the authority s departments. Issues discovered; - Incompatibility of documents formatting and bullets/numbering schemes did not transfer properly. - Lack of Macro recording facility in the spreadsheet this was resolved in StarOffice Version 7 - The trial highlighted a lack of standardisation in working practices addressing this has resulted in further efficiency gains. - Initial training provision needed improving. Sun introduced a beta test new version of StarOffice, which resolved most of the issues raised in the pilot. The beta was later released as StarOffice 7. A small number of users were identified who could not be easily migrated to StarOffice power users, Excel macro users and users of other software packages. Future planning The pilot was successful enough to plan the roll out of StarOffice across the authority with the exception of the authority s Education and Lifelong Learning department (ELL). The roll out will start in November ELL stayed with MS Office for the following reasons: - Educational cost of Microsoft Office is very low approx 50 per desktop. - Most schools use Microsoft Office, so file compatibility is seen as an issue. The planned split in the authority is 85% Star Office, 15% Microsoft Office 2003 but the number of Microsoft users is likely to be much lower than 15% and many of these are users 33

61 who have to complete financial returns for Central Government, which are automated using VBA. The cost of licences for StarOffice over 5 years is 186,000 and the licensing cost for 15% of users to move to Microsoft Office 2003 is over 240,000, this price is without software assurance. Lessons StarOffice has all the features required for 90% of users and has additional features, such as PDF output, which are not available from Microsoft Office. Most of the users who require Microsoft Office need it for communications with Central Government, which can only be performed using proprietary software. The savings over a complete Microsoft Office installation are over 1 Million. The pilot caused an examination of working processes and an improvement in efficiency from rationalising processes. Training is key to successful deployment. 34

62 Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland Background Beaumont Hospital employs 3000 staff directly. The hospital has always followed a mixedmarket policy for IT: it has 22 Linux-based servers and 14 Windows-based servers. The primary clinical application is based on an HP3000 mainframe, and finance applications run on a HP Unix system. In 2002 there were 1000 desktop machines running a variety of desktop personal productivity packages from several different suppliers. Move to OSS Beaumont Hospital was under severe financial pressure, and the cost savings achievable through migration to Open Source software were considerable. Hospital staff investigated Open Source options over a period of six months, and downloaded some OSS applications for experimentation purposes. The decision was taken to migrate to OSS, starting with a subset of the user desktops. Implementation of OSS The hospital deployed a variety of OSS applications, ranging from invisible infrastructure systems (Red Hat Linux) to more visible desktop applications such as StarOffice and SuSE Mail. Implementation of StarOffice started with version 5.2 in February 2002, but this proved problematic and version 6.0 was deployed in September Initial implementation was based on thin client architecture but limitations on the internal network caused this to be abandoned in favour of desktop installation of the office suite. Some users chose not to install StarOffice and they continue to use their existing desktop suites. Star Office functionality has proved to be fully adequate for most users, although the presentation application lacks some of the advanced functionality of Powerpoint. External document interchange is effected through production and receipt of the corresponding Microsoft Office file formats. facilities are based on SuSE Mail, which provides all the functionality required by users. Beaumont has implemented a Content Management System based on the Open Source Zope package. It supports the provision of information such as HR policies, laboratory standard operating procedures, personnel and nursing on-line forms, minutes of meetings, patient care documents, etc. The application is supplemented by close integration with Beaumont s LDAP directory server. Beaumont has committed to the development of JAVA/J2EE as its principal reference architecture for software construction. The hospital selected the Open Source JBOSS product as an application server, and although they bought in consultancy to support the set-up the savings compared with purchase of the leading proprietary products amounted to 200,000+. In order to support the development of staff skills and knowledge, the hospital wished to implement an e-learning system. It selected the Open Source Claroline package, which is a fully-functioning and fully-featured self-paced learning tool. The IT staff developed a system to enable digital X-ray images to be retrieved and viewed online. The system was based on a Sun Fire V880 granted by Sun, and was developed in Perl scripts. 35

63 Experience of OSS Key staff in the hospital and particularly in the computer operations department rapidly adapted to the new OSS environment; it helped that the hospital already had a strong experience of Unix applications. However, finding adequate expertise in OSS has been a continuing issue; external support is bought in as needed. The functionality of the Open Source software in use is generally regarded as adequate to meet most user requirements. There was some user resistance to the migration to OSS desktops, and some users will continue to use proprietary software in a mixed economy. User training was provided to support the migration to OSS, modularised and tailored to the requirements of each user. There have been fewer security alerts since the move to OSS, but the overall level of system support and administration for the installation has not changed significantly. The Hospital is now completing the roll-out of OSS desktops to a total of 850 users by the end of 2004; current work is completing the integration of back-end facilities for system control and administration. Costs The estimated costs of OSS solutions compared with comparable commercial proprietary solutions are shown in the table. Application Desktop applications Content management Digital Imaging X-ray Application server Open Source Software Solution Initial cost Total cost over ( ) 5 years ( ) 27.5K (Star Office) Comparable Closed Source Software Solution Initial cost* ( ) Total cost over 5 years ( ) 288.5K 34.7K 120K (e.g. Microsoft Office) 20K 32.1K 126K 140.2K (Zope) (e.g. Lotus Notes) 150K 237K 4.3M 7.339M 10K (JBOSS) 60.5K 320K (e.g. Websphere) 595.3K 1K 8.7K 110K 175K (SuSE ) (e.g. Lotus Domino) E-Learning 1K 4K 35K 175K (Claroline) TOTAL 209.5K 377K 4.883M 8.713M *including academic discount Source The information in this Case Study is primarily drawn from the paper: Open Source Software can Improve the Health of the Bank Balance the Beaumont Hospital Experience by B Fitzgerald and T Kenny (2003); available from: Material used with the permission of the authors. The assistance of T Kenny in the preparation of this Case Study is acknowledged. 36

64 City Of Munich, Germany Background The administration of the City of Munich operates around 14,000 desktops for 16,000 users. Around 300 software products are in use, supporting 170 different applications. Applications are mainly based on client/server architecture, with data held on servers which are Unixbased. Client desktops are based on Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and Microsoft Office 97/2000. Responsibility for planning and operation of IT is decentralised to departments; there is no central Help Desk, software distribution function or security management. Move to OSS When Microsoft announced the termination of distribution and support for the Windows NT 4.0 platform, the City of Munich was faced with a decision on how to migrate its IT facilities. The City commissioned a study of the migration options, covering: - Migration of the client systems to Windows XP as the standard OS, including the associated Office XP products from Microsoft; - Migration of the client system to Windows XP as the standard OS, using an OSS office suite (e.g. OpenOffice) for office applications; - Migration of the client system to Linux as the standard OS, using an OSS office suite (e.g. OpenOffice) for office applications. The outcome of the study was a decision by the City Council in May 2003 to migrate to Open Source for desktop platforms and office suite. The justification for this decision was based on the City s desire to achieve: - more independence from producers - more competition within the software market - greater conformance with the strategic aims of the City, e.g. for IT system management and administration. The City initiated the LiMux project (Linux in Munich) to take forward the planning and implementation of the new IT architecture. Planning activity (the Conception phase) started in June 2003, and the Migration phase was started in June Planning phase The aims of the LiMux project in the detailed Conception phase were: - definition and realisation of a standard base client - checking the technical possibilities, together with IBM and Novell/SuSE - developing migration scenarios and the related costs and timelines as the basis for migration in the departments. A number of sub-projects were established to take forward this phase of the work: - the Client Configuration sub-project defined the requirements for the base client system configuration, and identified special workplace requirements and exceptions, where migration to OSS was not practicable; - the Open Test and Validation Centre sub-project was responsible for verifying the possibility of workplace migration to Linux; it built a test centre and developed procedures for application migration and software distribution; 37

65 - the Training and Launch sub-project analysed the training requirements for migration, developed training modules and produced a training schedule for departments; - the Migration sub-project defined the concepts for migration of departments, it defined migration scenarios, specified file formats for migration and interoperability, and produced a cost model; - the Infrastructure and Services sub-project analysed the requirements and structure of the central services and the associated costs. The base client workstation is based on Linux, and uses Open Office as the office suite and the Mozilla browser. Servers will be migrated to a Linux platform. The City policy is that all applications will be based on a web interface. Migration The aims of the Migration phase are: - to migrate most of the city administration s work places to the Linux base client without compromising business; operating system and office suite independent solutions will be preferred; - to migrate applications to web-based or native Linux solutions - to consolidate and migrate standard applications - to consolidate and migrate Microsoft Office macros, forms and templates - to implement system management for the Linux client base. The Migration strategy is for soft migration : progressive migration based on the life cycle of products, and parallel operation. The unproblematic departments will be migrated first. Each department will be responsible for its migration strategy and implementation within the LiMux migration concept. It is expected that migration of departments will start in early Lessons learned Lessons learned from the Planning phase include: - Open Source does not equate to cost-free ; - The exercise showed up deficiencies in the city s central IT management and administration which would have had to be addressed in any event; - Mirroring the existing IT facilities with OSS is achievable only with effort in tailoring OSS software; - Integrating a variety of applications on an OSS platform raises difficulties which need to be addressed; user expectations have to be managed; - Migrating to OSS provides an opportunity to establish new structures and processes, and to rationalise the application base. Source This Case Study draws mainly on the document Introducing the LiMux Project, available from: 38

66 Open Source deployment in Extremadura, Spain Background Extremadura is the poorest region of Spain. It is located in SW Spain next to the border with Portugal, and has a population of around 1M scattered among 383 municipalities. In the mid-1990s the regional government saw that IT could help the region overcome its historical peripheral situation, and in 1997 the Regional Strategy on Information Society was launched, with two main objectives: - accessibility for all: use of the Internet as a public service; and - stimulation of technological literacy. Role of OSS This strategy led directly to the creation of the LinEx (Linux in Extremadura) project. The objective of the project is to create a fully functional IT infrastructure based on FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software), providing universal access to IT tools for all citizens. The LinEx project contributes to two goals: - an educational goal, through the implementation of an Educational Technological Network which provides one computer for each two students in all the schools in the region; - an economic and social goal, through the Technological Literacy Plan which spreads the adoption of free software in education, the local administration, local businesses and SMEs, and to all citizens through access to the Linex facilities. The availability of fully functional software, that can be copied legally, helps to overcome economic barriers such as the high cost of proprietary software. The project calculates that at least 20M has been saved in the Education budget through the use of FLOSS instead of proprietary software. The Regional Intranet provides 2Mbps communications access to more than 1800 access points including schools, other educational establishments, health centres, hospitals, local and regional administration offices, and local businesses. An educational portal has been created which allows teachers to share developments and spread the knowledge they have created. 34 New Knowledge Centres have been created in centres throughout the Region, mainly in rural areas, to provide universal access for citizens to the Internet. These Centres provide training facilities to all sectors of the population. Implementation Linex (otherwise known as GNU/LinEx) is based on GNU/Debian a Linux distribution that makes it easy to create other distributions that can inherit its advantages. By using a modified Debian distribution, the Extremadura government has benefited from the large amount of software which it supports over 8000 items. The main software applications incorporated in LinEx are: - the OpenOffice office suite - the GNOME graphic environment - web browsers: Galeon and Mozilla and a full range of supporting applications (see reference). 39

67 The project funds a development centre which has created accounting software, hospital applications and agricultural applications. This software will be available free to all citizens. More than 225,000 copies of the GNU/LinEx system have been distributed in CD format, and more than 100,000 copies have been downloaded from the Internet. Source This Case Study draws mainly on material available from: 40

68 An e-innovations project funded by the ODPM Open Source Office Software Report on the methods used by Bristol City Council for Deployment and Migration to StarOffice