State to save billions on software
When Microsoft introduced a new licensing model for its software late last year, simmering resentment within government finally boiled over.
For months the State IT Agency had winced at the incessant expense of buying software licences for hundreds of thousands of staff spread across government departments. Now the agency has declared that it will ditch expensive brand name software in many cases and switch to opensource alternatives.
The move should save at least R3bn a year, says agency chief information officer Mojalefa Moseki. The policy should also help to create a new generation of programmers skilled in developing their own applications.
The beauty of open-source software is that its underlying code can be accessed so that end users can modify it to suit their needs or build new applications. Equally compelling for cashstrapped governments is that many of the programs are free, with suppliers making their money by supporting the systems.
"Government spends close to R3bn a year on software licences alone," says Moseki. With support and upgrade costs added, the total bill was a punishing R9,4bn last year. "Barely a cent of that is spent in SA because all the companies like Microsoft, Sun, IBM and Lotus are multinationals, so the money goes abroad. SA is a consumer of software, but we can develop it ourselves."
Moseki says the small-scale introduction of open-source in some departments has already saved R10m. To make sure a fullscale switch is sustainable, the agency will work with universities and private companies and set up a resources centre with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to help develop programming skills.
SA has a pool of very talented software developers, and government's commitment to open- source will create an opportunity for them to flourish, he believes.
CSIR CEO Sibusiso Sibisi agrees. "Our ultimate goal is to stimulate the birth of companies and an entire industry based on open source software," he said.
Arguments that open-source software is too unstable to run mission-critical systems are proving groundless as the technologies have improved steadily, driven by talented developers eager to break free from costly bigname brands.
Governments in France, Germany and Peru are advocates of open-source, along with the state authorities in California.
The growing tide has persuaded companies including Sun and IBM to offer open-source, knowing they can still make money on the hardware to run it and ancillary services.
Moseki says the departments using open-source software in SA have seen increased security and more up-time, as the software is supported internally with no need to call in an outside company to resolve any problems.
Microsoft stands to lose heavily from government's move, although it will not specify how much business it earns from the state. And last year it launched a project to give free software to all 32000 government schools.
Last week the company followed up with the surprise news that it will open its source code to governments worldwide so they can enhance the security of its software. That is a calculated move to entrench its position in government markets. But Microsoft's move has come too late to affect the agency's decision.
"The logic for open-source is so compelling that after a year of debates we decided to stop talking and declare government an open-source zone," says Moseki.