Open source is too expensive, and Pesaro returns to paid software – Hardware upgrade.it

Microsoft solutions have often been the de-facto choice for the majority of business realities, educational and governmental. Although this is proprietary software, the Redmond has always been a viable alternative and simpler to use than the other proposals del’industria. This does not translate well in being the cheaper alternative: as proprietary software, Microsoft requires it to license costs for prolonged use.

 

And that’s why a lot of reality in recent years have gone to an approach paper on the more convenient , one of the open source software . But there have been cases in the past have shown that that is not always the open-source is the most viable alternative to paid software, even from the point of view of costs. And a new report from ZDNet highlights how in our Pesaro the council has passed to Office 365 after a lapse of a few years with OpenOffice, just for a matter of cost.

 

In 2011, the provincial capital of the Marches passed to the open-source productivity software, preparing hundreds of employees to use the new package of applications for productivity. But last year, the municipal authorities have decided to back, back to the suite of Microsoft and saving apparently about 80% of operating expenses . The IT manager of the city, Stefano Bruscoli, has recently declared “significant and unanticipated costs of distribution” in an effort to make everything work the open-source solution.

 

The same was observed in a report Netics Observatory conducted by the city of Pesaro in collaboration with Microsoft, “We have encountered many obstacles and failures around the use of specific functions. In addition, it is impossible to replace partially Access and Excel (various macros used on dozens of files), we decided to keep a hybrid, using both systems at the same time. This mix has been devastating. “

 

Bruscoli had also specified that all persons involved in the work with OpenOffice spent up to 15 minutes a day in the management of the compatibility between the two competing applications, which can translate into thousands of hours wasted every year. Following these results, the authorities of the town of Marche have decided to begin the process of abandonment of the open-source software last year, and go back to Office. According to the report Netics, This transaction enabled a saving of 80% of all expenditure related to the software, which includes not only the distribution but also the support, training, and the cost of software.

 

With OpenOffice, the annual cost per user for a period of five years, was just over € 530, a figure that has thinned up to € 197.49 a year with Office 365. The report identified the possibility of further savings: for example using Yammer and Skype for Business, charges on calls and on business trips could be further reduced, bringing the total cost per user at a threshold of € 111.98 per year, about 80 % lower than the approach with the open-source software.

 

Of course that is only one example can not represent the state of affairs of the things, and the open-source software is the ideal solution in many cases (eg small businesses). In the case of Pesaro, also part of the responsibility may be the same authorities who probably have mismanaged the transition from software OpenOffice to Microsoft, causing many unnecessary spending repeated over time. Instead, what proves the case is taken up by ZDNet that still There are cases in which the transition to the open-source is not a sure guarantee huge savings in terms of , and for some companies price more predictable a proprietary solution – such as Office 365 in this case – can have unexpected benefits in the long run.