|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Lotus Symphony Goes Mainstream
By Stephen Langton on 28 January 2009
IBM Lotus Symphony, IBM's free software suite of word processing documents, spreadsheets and presentation files, has recently passed three million downloads worldwide. Available to anyone with one click at http://symphony.lotus.com, Lotus Symphony has become one of the leading alternatives to Microsoft Office, capable of saving individuals and businesses hundreds or even thous= ands of dollars. Adopting Symphony can put less stress on IT budgets, which can mean more money to drive innovation and investments in human capital.
With the challenging economy, businesses are more focused on cost-effective technologies. Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organization (SMIDO) provides critical technology training to the artisans, mechanics and shop owners in the Suame Magazine section of Ghana. Suame Magazine is an enginee= ring cluster located in Kumasi, Ghana. With more than 200,000 workers, it is the biggest industrial estate in Africa and has business activities that result in daily cash financial transactions of over $1 million US.
"We need powerful productivity tools without a high price tag," said Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, SMIDO instructor. "At an organization like SMIDO, incurring additional costs year after year is problematic and detracts from our ability to allocate funds to our long term vision and goal. Above all, the open source nature of Symphony allows us the flexibility we need to upgrade and manage the software without the hassle of licensing fees and lengthy conditions."
Organizations across business, government, education and philanthropy are finding Lotus Symphony and Lotus Foundations the easy choices as information technology and operating budgets tighten. For example, the San Miguel School of Camden New Jersey, a specialized school for at-risk adolescent boys, wanted to make the most of its non-profit budget without sacrificing the quality of its education tools. "Paying hundreds of dollars per user for office software isn't a possibility for us," said Brother Joseph Juliano of the school. "Lotus gives us the applications for our staff and student needs at much lower cost."
Lotus Symphony is also a component in two low cost software-based offerings from IBM Lotus, Lotus Foundations and the IBM Open Client (OCCS), the active ingredient in a popular Linux desktop software bundle.
Today IBM and Red Hat announced a joint initiative to help enterprise clien= ts migrate from Microsoft-based desktops to Linux-based desktops. The initiati= ve includes a migration package with tools such as Red Hat's TCO calculator, diagnostic kit, best practices guide, no charge cost-reduction strategy engagement, and no charge proof of concept/pilot deployment. It also includ= es insight on optimal uses for various client technology choices and how to harness Red Hat's heterogeneous virtualization management capability for the desktop to drive cost-efficiency and user productivity. The objective is to assist businesses in moving from higher cost platforms to Lotus on Red Hat Enterprise Linux solutions. This migration package will be delivered by joint channel Business Partners supported by IBM and Red Hat technical experts. Qualifying Business Partners in North America may apply to Red Hat for reimbursement from Red Hat for these professional services/implemen= tation services provided to customers.
Already businesses around the world are moving to these economical solutions and driving significant savings of their planned expenditures on desktop computing. Constructora San Jos=E9, a leading, privately owned construction company in Spain, chose the IBM Open Client on Red Hat for an efficient and secure way to communicate and collaborate internally and externally in real-time. This helps the company's mobile workers controlling and direc= ting construction projects in remote locations to make fast decisions.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
