Wednesday, June 18, 2008 9:16 PM
IBM are offering $25,000 for 20,000 users to have unlimited remote support for a year, the product itself is free just like OpenOffice which Symphony grew from, that's $1.25 per user.
According to Directions, Microsoft Office costs, licence and support, $151per user for 20,000 users, however Microsoft will discount depending on what else is purchased.
I don't have to do the sums for you, the difference between the pricing could pay for a migration project which could be tempting for companies looking to save money.
The gap between the two is enough, I believe, to justify the migration to even the most die-hard Office supporter, which is the very role I have played for awhile.
There still isn't an equivalent to VBA which will be enough of a risk for some not to attempt a migration and the level of userability between the two is wide. IBM would do well to employ the services of someone like Alan Cooper because the user-interface isn't a joy to use, I'm not fooled by the nice use of colours, lip-stick on a pig springs to mind. However these arguments mean little in a bear-market were squeezing out more share-holder value is what many companies are currently concentrating on.