Chuck wrote:
Fred A. Miller wrote:
GOOD article!
Fred
How to succeed
Learning from his own mistakes, Holt offers this advice to IT shops who want
to dump MS Office for non-Microsoft desktops:
Remove the outgoing office suite and enforce usage of OpenOffice. "Once
someone is used to it, they don't go back," Holt said. There has to be
a "no-going-back policy."
Talk about success stories to show that others have been able to make the
change and like it.
Relate the cost savings to company profitability and potential salary/benefit
increases.
"OpenOffice is now ready for the workstation, as is The GIMP," Holt said. He
firmly believes that Linux should not be relegated to the back room.
I would add one more suggestion. In the event that an employee does
switch back to MS Office, make them pay for their own license out of
their own pocket.
That will alienate the employee even more than they feel already, and it
may even open up ownership issues, or contravene industrial laws. The
negative effects of draconian methods soon spread beyond the workplace
into families and ultimately into the community. It is far better to
work with the employee to help both the company and the employee
understand just what their attachment is to MO so that they can, with
the right assistance, "de-program" themselves. And if they already have
a such a strongly imprintable personality then why not turn them into an
asset for the company.
The article is also further evidence of the market effect that this must
ultimately have as more companies make the switch. If
OpenOffice/Linux/FOSS really does improve the bottom line, then the
market will ultimately force competitors to switch as well.
Ross
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