Migrating To OpenOffice .org

Slide 1: Commercial Open Source Software: Migrations OpenOffice.org Migration Roberto Galoppini

Slide 2: Visual Agenda

Slide 3: Reasons to change

Slide 4: False problems

Slide 5: Communication

Slide 6: Outsiders matter

Slide 7: No big-bang, please..

Slide 8: Reasons to change Among top reasons to change: Technical motivations Legal motivations Economical motivations Social motivations

Slide 9: “Supposed problems” Migrations involving end-users are not just a technical issue. Literature about OpenOffice.org migrations often mentions the following “problems”: Functions are “missing” (read they are somewhere) OpenOffice Data format (ODF) are not spread Layout differences There is no documentation (see amazon) There is no (commercial) support

Slide 10: Issues to be addressed Migrations are never for free: Technological impact Managing formats & interoperability (R/W/RW patterns) Documents’ Conversion Interoperability issues Psychological impact Need to learn to use a new tool ( what about office 2007?) Motivational issues Inertia to change Frustraction

Slide 11: An al y si s Co Tr m a in un in ic g at io MM n ig o an ra d e Su d tio l p p Ma n Migration project GANTT or in D t te ep na lo nc e ym en t Uninstall MS Office

Slide 12: Analysis Analysis is aimed at addressing the following issues: Organizational Assessment (Identify Decision makers, Organizational Units, etc) Document walk-through (automatic, sampling, pattern r/w/rw, legal aspects) Hardware/Software survey (compatibility, needed functions, architecture review) Goals: Define a ready-to-go project Pilot plan definition

Slide 13: Analysis :: Organizational Assessment Goals: Identify homogenous class of users Identify organizational units responsibles Find technological leaders (“champions”) Understand interchange of data among O.U. Understand external interchange of data

Slide 14: Analysis :: Documents’ walkthrough Documents’ walkthrough will help to: Evaluate issues related to documents' formats Templates evaluation and (re) definition Identify best training patterns

Slide 15: Analysis :: Data collection Questionnaires will gather information to understand: Microsoft office’s mode of employ Numbers and categories of documents “Critical” documents Investigate Internal/External interoperability

Slide 16: Analysis :: Choices At the end of the analysis some choices are needed: Define migration target (expectations/budget trade-off, good-will, etc) Manage Critical issues (requirements coverage assessment: make/buy/redefine) Tools selections (Open Source if possible, of course!) Define Support required (related to dimensions, users clustering, statistics)

Slide 17: Communication It is mandatory, and it requires: Top Management commitment Trade Unions commitment “Champions” commitment Internal Marketing (motivational training)

Slide 18: Communication :: Internal Marketing It consists of: Portal (intranet with wikis, blogs, etc) Software Customization (personalised version of OOo) Software distribution (also outside of the company!) Stimulate “peer learning” (champions’ role is key!) Keep people informed, about processes and tools

Slide 19: Documents and Templates Migration It could be easier than expected: It is an organizational opportunity (templates, flows, etc)! Document management opportunity (file servers, etc) Archiving “old” documents as read-only (don’t need to migrate all of them!)

Slide 20: Deployment Installation and configuration. Customized installation “Critical” workstations availability (you likely need them!) Extensions’ attribution Move to new formats (burn the boats!)

Slide 21: Deployment :: (Dis)installation The migration will take place step by step (big-bang simply doesn’t work). At a certain date it must be effective. Only where and if necessary some desktops will stay.

Slide 22: Training Is the most visible activity. Motivational, especially for responsibles and champions Advanced for Champions and call center operators Educate everyone about interoperability issues Differentiated, from basic to very advanced Training program should consider second editions

Slide 23: Maintenance and Support Help users with technical and not technical problems. Never let them alone.. Zero level support: intranet (documentation, how-to, faq, news, wiki, etc) Peer support and champions support First level support: call center Second level support: (phone and/or on-site) The portal plays a very important role here..

Slide 24: Conclusions A migration is a process, not a tool. Don’t underestimate Psychological impact of change Don’t leave them alone, never Motivate through speeches, help on a practical ground Training and support are key Users need answer, fast!

Slide 25: Anteprima a OpenOffice.org 2.0 Thank you! Roberto Galoppini http://robertogaloppini.net roberto.galoppini@gmail.com