3. "We firmly believe that establishing a level playing
field for open source and proprietary software
changes that dynamic and unlocks efficiencies. It
creates a much needed competitive tension in
our procurements and opens up innovation.”
- Liam Maxwell, UK Cabinet Office
4. UK institutions with ICT policies
where OSS is considered an
option:
Policy
HE: 74% FE: 61%
5. Practice
FOSS is considered for procurement in nearly all
institutions:
98% (HE)
94% (FE)
But is only considered equally alongside closed source
options:
25 %of the time
10. “This document does not endorse open source
over proprietary software or vice versa. Current
Government Policy states, however, that where
there is no significant overall cost difference
between open and non-open source products,
open source will be selected on the basis of its
inherent flexibility.”
- ICT Advice Note, Government Procurement
Service
12. Resources
• Open Source in Education: How far have we come?
http://oss.ly/gdn
• Open Source Options for Education http://oss.ly/opt (editable
version: http://oss.ly/osoed)
• OSS Watch National Software Survey 2010
http://oss.ly/nsws2010
• UK Cabinet Office Open Source Procurement Toolkit
http://oss.ly/ospt
• Using open source software can offer savings for colleges
http://oss.ly/fe
Editor's Notes
FOSS has the potential to reduce the cost of IT and to deliver better solutions for users. Some recent cases in the public sector have demonstrated 90% cost savings while delivering better services
All the statistics in this talk are taken from our 2010 national survey
Consideration of FOSS tends to be quite “patchy” and dependent on factors such as the domain and individual perspectives of staff involved. This issue can be addressed both through training and through gaining wider practical experience of procuring FOSS alongside closed source software.
Tackles the issue of awareness of free and open source software as alternatives to common closed source solutions For all public sector (published by CO) and education (published by OSS Watch)
Inform the design of new IT solutions Suggest opportunities for IT service or solution refreshes Challenge a proposed solution from a supplier that does not use open source technology Challenge a procurement process that did not consider open alternatives Ensure the options are considered even when evaluating solutions when not going out to tender; for example when considering developing in-house solutions or deploying a previously purchased solution for a new purpose ( the “but we already have SharePoint” scenario) We have a live editable version of the options on Google Docs at http://oss.ly/osoed Add your own alternatives, and provide links to evidence of use in the sector, and we’ll review and add them to the published guidance