THE LOCAL Government Computer Service Board, a flagship Microsoft client, is moving to open-source software after nearly 10 years of allegiance.
The public sector body provides shared ICT services to local government and was a pioneering exponent of SharePoint, the Microsoft web-based product that is used as an intranet by many of the country’s 33 councils.
In 2001, the board signed a landmark €10 million contract with Microsoft, licensing end-to-end software from desktop to database for use across local government. It was renewed in 2005, but only after assistant director Tim Willoughby looked at the open-source alternatives.
At the time he expressed a reluctance to entrust local government IT platforms to a “sandal-wearing” community, preferring the level of support offered by Microsoft.
A number of factors have convinced Willoughby that the time is right to make the move, not least the fact that the computer service board has seen a 15-20 per cent cut in its IT spend and must make funds go further.
“Microsoft’s Software Assurance scheme was a factor,” Willoughby says. “It requires an annual payment of 29 per cent of the original licence cost. We can’t afford it. The other reason is that we don’t want our data to be stuck in old infrastructure where we have to pay somebody to get it out.”
Willoughby is betting that open source will better prepare local government for a future that will involve social media, the semantic web and web 3.0 technologies.
“We want to approach them with open technologies and open standards. We want an open source view of the world. We are all working with more loosely coupled environments where you have to be able to take one component out and replace it with another from another vendor.”
Although the last enterprise agreement with Microsoft ended in 2009, the board is not intending to “rip and replace” existing software. It will run down its use over the next four or five years as support diminishes. Any new IT projects will use open source software, a process already under way.
A number of authorities are looking to tie in social media with their websites; others are planning document management systems and a move away from Office.
Willoughby says the strategy fits in with a sea change in the tech sector as the number of people using and supporting open source reaches a tipping point. This is still to be reflected in Ireland but Willoughby believes that the computer service board could lead the charge.
“If we start creating the demand and priming the pump the supply will be there. We believe the time is right and companies are coming out with the support capabilities. There is now a value proposition for small firms to come in and support it.”
A request for information from the computer service board was issued on the eTenders website on Monday. The plan is to work with Enterprise Ireland and meet companies that can deliver the solutions and support that local government will need.
The move comes at a time when the board is merging with the Local Government Management Services Board to form the Local Government Management Agency as part of the reduction in public sector agencies.
