This document discusses strategies for moving an organization from proprietary software to open source software. It notes that open source provides freedom from vendor control and can reduce costs through evaluating the total cost of ownership. Open source also allows organizations to innovate in real time and regain internal expertise. The document recommends starting small with a proof of concept, gaining user buy-in through education and support, and realizing that open source may not be identical but can coexist with previous proprietary software during a transition. It also acknowledges that security issues can exist with both open source and commercial software.

1. Moving from Propriety Software to
Open Source Software
Fonda Ingram

2. Open
Source Propriety
Software

3. Freedom From Vendor Control
• Why Open Source?
o Freedom
• Run the program for any purpose
– Pay attention to compliance
• Customize the program
• Use cutting edge analytics NOW

4. Open Source Software will Reduce cost
• Evaluate Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
o Identifying and acquiring software
o Installing software and operating
o Training and or talent acquisition
o Exit costs found in migrating away from the closed
software

5. Responsive and Competitive
• Innovate in Real Time
o Adoption of open source can be part of building a
more agile organization
o It can also be part of (re)building in-house
expertise and regaining control

6. Tip Toe Instead of Rip and Replace
• Start small
o Open source is not a drop in replacement
o Run a POC to get your feet wet
o Hybrid environments may be necessary

7. Coexist with Open Source
• Users are often the most problematic in any
migration
o User buy-in to open source technology is critical
o Education/Training/Support
o Know the everyone will not be on board (try
coexistence of the old and new environment)
o Dale Carnegie - 'A man convinced against his will Is of
the same opinion still’

8. Identical Twins are Rare
• Transition Strategy
o Don’t expect identical
o Commit to training and education consistently
o Test, test and test again

9. A BUG is a BUG is a BUG
• Tradition/habit
o Users find comfort in familiarity and are cautions with
forced to learn something new
• Commercial software often gets a free pass on
security
o Bugs exists in both commercial and open source
o Expertise exist outside commercial software
organizations

10. Embrace/Migrate/Coexist
• Assessment is KEY
o What do you want to migrate (identify statistical
routines)
o Identify impact (workflow and interoperability)
• Third party software

11. Questions

12. References
• 5 tips on migrating to open-source software - Jack Wallen
• Triumph and disaster: Two migrations to OpenOffice – Simon Phipps
• Total Cost of Ownership of Open Source Software - Maha Shaikh & Tony
Cornford
• How to Make the Moe from Propriety Software to Open Source – EastBanc
Technologies
• 10 Reason Open Source Is Good for Business – Kathrine Noyes
• SAS to R Migration – Liz Matthews
• A Saga of Migration from SAS to R – Clayton Gibbs & Joel Dobson
• R vs SAS, why is SAS preferred by private companies – Cross validated blog
• Moving from SAS to R – Thomas Dinsmore