The government has announced plans for nine public sector trials of open-source software. Whitehall buying agency the Office of Government Commerce is working with IBM and selected government departments, agencies and local authorities to determine whether the same results can be delivered using open-source instead of commercial software, what problems there might be and if there are potential cost savings.
Details of the individual trials are not available but they cover a range of different scenarios. Some will investigate the potential of open source to deliver an entirely new project. Some will run test systems in parallel with existing proprietary platforms to compare the performance.
The trial is to test the concept of open source, says the OGC.
'We are looking at the concept of open source and whether economies can be made. It's about value for money and if open source can produce savings then that's great and we will then look at who best can be a provider. It's not about getting out of bed with Microsoft and into bed with IBM,' said a spokesman.
The OGC is keen to talk to other service providers about similar trials and it is rumoured Sun is putting forward its Linux-based Java Desktop System.
The trials are a welcome endorsement but will not open the floodgates, says Mike Davis, senior research analyst at Butler Group.
'The greater the central endorsement and encouragement the better, but at the end of the day these migrations don't happen overnight and it will be gradual process,' he said.
Ovum Holway analyst Georgina O'Toole said: ' Knowing how slowly things in government move this is not likely to have an effect very quickly, but it is certainly a further indication that open source is being seriously considered as a viable option for reducing the cost of integrating systems.'
The organisations involved in the trial are the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Department of Work and Pensions, Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Orkney, Powys and Newham councils, Central Scottish Police Authority, the Office of the eEnvoy and water industry regulator Ofwat.
Quelle: Vnuent, 21.10.2003
