Sun postponed a meeting with NSW government department CIOs scheduled for late January indefinitely due to a lack of interest according to John Englaro, managing director of Si2, the consultancy handling the NSW government StarOffice pitch.
According to Englaro the failure of the government meeting to take place was due in equal part to mismanagement and the reluctance of NSW government Chief Information Officers and Technical Officers (CIOs and CTOs) to attend.
Englaro said that while some CTOs and CIOs had not shown enthusiasm for the meeting many had simply not returned from holiday at the time Sun's sent its invitation to attend it in January.
But while the situation looks grim for StarOffice in the government sector, Englaro said that Si2 was now receiving around three to four new business leads a day from companies expressing interest in the alternative office productivity software.
The leads included a major Sydney-based retailer and sizeable legal firm. Englaro declined the opportunity to name the companies but said the retailer accounted for approximately 1,000 users at 100 locations across the city.
Interestingly, claims Englaro, Si2's attempt to organise the NSW government pitch revealed that while Sun's pitch attracted little interest from its departments' technical ranks, its bean-counters showed more curiosity.
"The CFOs are interested to save money but the technical people are not," said Englaro.
Englaro said his investigations of NSW CIO concerns revealed that it would be easier for CIOs to renew contracts with Microsoft than undertake the task of making a transition to StarOffice. He said each department is allocated a budget for recurring costs each year and it's easier for CIOs to spend it than take on the risks associated with a major system overhaul.
"In a nut they don't want the hassle," said Englaro. "They're not goaled on saving money -- basically they're goaled on making sure that no-one complains about their systems".
"Internally this decision [to move to StarOffice] will have to be made from a CEO level. It will never be made from a CIO level -- there's nothing in it for them."
Hey Governments, get this. Imagine if you put just one year's licence fees for MS Office into customisation and migration to OpenOffice.
Worried about compatability? Then give it away to anyone who wanted it - for free. Anyone who wanted to send documents to you could download and install OpenOffice and there you are - instant compatability.
Instant saving of millions in recurrent expenditure. Instant compatability with anyone who needed it. Where's the downside here?