[Marketing] OSGeo benefits

Committees Marketing
1

So, benefits to local government of using and supporting open source (in general) and OSGeo in particular -

1) Save money
2) Grow small local business
3) Share knowledge with peer organisations
4) Be part of a wider governance culture
5) Rapid access to innovations
6) Preservation through open standards
7) Outreach through open data (starting again at 1 for open data)
N) ?

I should add more to the list, thinking this is a talk to management types who will be technologically aware but not that into details of process.

Any advice much apprec,

jo

--
Jo Walsh

Unlock places - http://unlock.edina.ac.uk/
phone: +44 (0)131 650 2973
skype: metazool

2

Hi Jo,

8) Earn respect from worldwide community
9) Gain pride by doing something more than just money

my 2 cents.

Venka

On 2010/04/27 23:36, Jo Walsh wrote:

So, benefits to local government of using and supporting open source (in
general) and OSGeo in particular -

1) Save money
2) Grow small local business
3) Share knowledge with peer organisations
4) Be part of a wider governance culture
5) Rapid access to innovations
6) Preservation through open standards
7) Outreach through open data (starting again at 1 for open data)
N) ?

I should add more to the list, thinking this is a talk to management
types who will be technologically aware but not that into details of
process.

Any advice much apprec,

jo

3

Too many squishies. #1 is save money. Here's #2 and 3

2 --
Gain leverage with your vendor, by pursuing a dual-vendor strategy.

http://jamesdixon.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/reduce-software-costs-with-a-dual-vendor-strategy/

3 --
Gain future systems flexibility by pursuing a more flexible, component
oriented technology strategy.

http://opengeo.org/publications/opengeo-architecture/

N --
Engage your technology staff, by offering them something new to learn
and master. Techies love open source.

On Tue, Apr 27, 2010 at 7:51 AM, Venka <venka.osgeo@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Jo,

8) Earn respect from worldwide community
9) Gain pride by doing something more than just money

my 2 cents.

Venka

On 2010/04/27 23:36, Jo Walsh wrote:

So, benefits to local government of using and supporting open source (in
general) and OSGeo in particular -

1) Save money
2) Grow small local business
3) Share knowledge with peer organisations
4) Be part of a wider governance culture
5) Rapid access to innovations
6) Preservation through open standards
7) Outreach through open data (starting again at 1 for open data)
N) ?

I should add more to the list, thinking this is a talk to management
types who will be technologically aware but not that into details of
process.

Any advice much apprec,

jo

_______________________________________________
Marketing mailing list
Marketing@lists.osgeo.org
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing

4

In addition to the dual vendor idea I usually add this explanation.

You could spend your money on 5 licenses for a big tool that might do
what you want or you could spend the money on a developer/support to
make the tool you need and use it on as many computers as you need.
It's not always a pure cost savings but a shift in the allocation of
money in a way that makes you work more efficiently and ensure 100%
support for all issues but without the risk of having to write
completely in house software(meaning there are plenty of people around
the world you could hire at any moment to do the work for you).

Sorry hard to put that in a bullet point.

Alex

Paul Ramsey wrote:

Too many squishies. #1 is save money. Here's #2 and 3

2 --
Gain leverage with your vendor, by pursuing a dual-vendor strategy.

http://jamesdixon.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/reduce-software-costs-with-a-dual-vendor-strategy/

3 --
Gain future systems flexibility by pursuing a more flexible, component
oriented technology strategy.

http://opengeo.org/publications/opengeo-architecture/

N --
Engage your technology staff, by offering them something new to learn
and master. Techies love open source.

On Tue, Apr 27, 2010 at 7:51 AM, Venka <venka.osgeo@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Jo,

8) Earn respect from worldwide community
9) Gain pride by doing something more than just money

my 2 cents.

Venka

On 2010/04/27 23:36, Jo Walsh wrote:

So, benefits to local government of using and supporting open source (in
general) and OSGeo in particular -

1) Save money
2) Grow small local business
3) Share knowledge with peer organisations
4) Be part of a wider governance culture
5) Rapid access to innovations
6) Preservation through open standards
7) Outreach through open data (starting again at 1 for open data)
N) ?

I should add more to the list, thinking this is a talk to management
types who will be technologically aware but not that into details of
process.

Any advice much apprec,

jo

5

Jo,
For government, I suggest focusing on government's selection criteria for projects, which is usually:
* Value for money
* Low Risk

Yes, Open Source licenses are free, but when promoted that way, Open Source often comes across as being "cheap". Also, the Total Cost of Ownership for Open Source and Proprietary, when compared head to head, is often similar, or even favours the proprietary software.

The value for Open Source comes when you consider the extra benefits open source brings:

In particular:
* If a government invests Open Source software, they can give it away to the government's community groups, and citizens, for free.

* When you give away your software as Open Source, the international community will likely use it, and then improve it, which in turn benefits the local government. (This can be factored into purchasing selection criteria as Opportunity Management, which is the same as Risk Management, but in reverse. Ie, identify what could go right, then put enablement strategies in place to ensure that it happens).

You were after some material for presentations. I'll forward some slides through for this 15 minute overview of Geospatial Open Source here:
http://blip.tv/file/2748984

I'll send when I get to work in ~ 4 hours.

Jo Walsh wrote:

So, benefits to local government of using and supporting open source (in general) and OSGeo in particular -

1) Save money
2) Grow small local business
3) Share knowledge with peer organisations
4) Be part of a wider governance culture
5) Rapid access to innovations
6) Preservation through open standards
7) Outreach through open data (starting again at 1 for open data)
N) ?

I should add more to the list, thinking this is a talk to management types who will be technologically aware but not that into details of process.

Any advice much apprec,

jo

--
Cameron Shorter
Geospatial Director
Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254

Think Globally, Fix Locally
Geospatial Solutions enhanced with Open Standards and Open Source
http://www.lisasoft.com

6

dear Paul, thanks for the advice, appreciated.

On 27/04/2010 16:26, Paul Ramsey wrote:

Too many squishies. #1 is save money. Here's #2 and 3

Right, the community/status stuff is in there partly because i do think a bit squishily, partly to chime with status-seeking of regional government looking for more independence - partnerships with European peers, etc.

2 --
Gain leverage with your vendor, by pursuing a dual-vendor strategy.
http://jamesdixon.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/reduce-software-costs-with-a-dual-vendor-strategy/

A good one, though the wording is a bit business-bluffy. I read Ursula Le Guin's "The Left Hand of Darkness" and these kind of statements remind me of the social game of "shifgrethor"...

3 --
Gain future systems flexibility by pursuing a more flexible, component
oriented technology strategy.
http://opengeo.org/publications/opengeo-architecture/

Right, I hope i was implying this in 5) Rapid access to innovations

N --
Engage your technology staff, by offering them something new to learn
and master. Techies love open source.

A *very* good point which i will emphasise, in trying to find a balance between the approaches.

cheers,

jo

--
Jo Walsh

Unlock places - http://unlock.edina.ac.uk/
phone: +44 (0)131 650 2973
skype: metazool

7

Hello,

I would suggest some more valuable criteria for government.

  • Technology independence.
  • Investment synergies among different adminstrations.

The first is a question of knowing what the software does and to be able to adapt it. Yes, it’s not just an intention, it’s been done a lot of times; you can customize a software to your needings, by using external professional services, or by training internal resources.

The second is a strategy I’ve put into practice: Let more than one administration share their investment so that they can maximize the money they spend, as well as get future improvements as any partner needs some features.

From my point of view, there are some other factors:

  • Cost bound investment “maintained over time”
  • Ability to try full versions before decission taking
  • Fast knowledge about strategic decissions (in healthy OS communities)

BR

Miguel Montesinos

De: marketing-bounces@lists.osgeo.org en nombre de Cameron Shorter
Enviado el: mar 27/04/2010 22:35
Para: Jo Walsh
CC: marketing@lists.osgeo.org
Asunto: Re: [Marketing] OSGeo benefits - Found word(s) risk free in the Text body

Jo,
For government, I suggest focusing on government’s selection criteria
for projects, which is usually:

  • Value for money
  • Low Risk

Yes, Open Source licenses are free, but when promoted that way, Open
Source often comes across as being “cheap”. Also, the Total Cost of
Ownership for Open Source and Proprietary, when compared head to head,
is often similar, or even favours the proprietary software.

The value for Open Source comes when you consider the extra benefits
open source brings:

In particular:

  • If a government invests Open Source software, they can give it away to
    the government’s community groups, and citizens, for free.

  • When you give away your software as Open Source, the international
    community will likely use it, and then improve it, which in turn
    benefits the local government. (This can be factored into purchasing
    selection criteria as Opportunity Management, which is the same as Risk
    Management, but in reverse. Ie, identify what could go right, then put
    enablement strategies in place to ensure that it happens).

You were after some material for presentations. I’ll forward some slides
through for this 15 minute overview of Geospatial Open Source here:
http://blip.tv/file/2748984

I’ll send when I get to work in ~ 4 hours.

Jo Walsh wrote:

So, benefits to local government of using and supporting open source
(in general) and OSGeo in particular -

  1. Save money
  2. Grow small local business
  3. Share knowledge with peer organisations
  4. Be part of a wider governance culture
  5. Rapid access to innovations
  6. Preservation through open standards
  7. Outreach through open data (starting again at 1 for open data)
    N) ?

I should add more to the list, thinking this is a talk to management
types who will be technologically aware but not that into details of
process.

Any advice much apprec,

jo

–
Cameron Shorter
Geospatial Director
Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254

Think Globally, Fix Locally
Geospatial Solutions enhanced with Open Standards and Open Source
http://www.lisasoft.com

Marketing mailing list
Marketing@lists.osgeo.org
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing

8

On Tue, Apr 27, 2010 at 1:35 PM, Cameron Shorter
<cameron.shorter@gmail.com> wrote:

Yes, Open Source licenses are free, but when promoted that way, Open Source
often comes across as being "cheap". Also, the Total Cost of Ownership for
Open Source and Proprietary, when compared head to head, is often similar,
or even favours the proprietary software.

The word isn't "free" or "cheap", it's "less expensive".

P.

9

On 27/04/2010 22:08, Paul Ramsey wrote:

On Tue, Apr 27, 2010 at 1:35 PM, Cameron Shorter
<cameron.shorter@gmail.com> wrote:

Yes, Open Source licenses are free, but when promoted that way, Open Source
often comes across as being "cheap". Also, the Total Cost of Ownership for
Open Source and Proprietary, when compared head to head, is often similar,
or even favours the proprietary software.

The word isn't "free" or "cheap", it's "less expensive".

The UK public sector is in a dreadful debt crisis, less is good.

The stuff about Total Cost of Ownership of free and open source software always seemed a bit FUD-like to me - is it really evidence based over the longer term and where is the evidence? What exactly is being measured when it can get into subtle things like saving on staff replacement cost?

Venka right, respect, status, shifgrethor, it *is* important, and has been a big motivator for a lot of the government open data projects we are seeing now...

Cameron thanks for reinforcing the investment-in-community point - i plan to emphasise gvSIG and Geomajas as projects that have origins in enlightened public administrations - i would love to see the numbers that added up to "let's develop our own desktop GIS in house rather than buy software licenses"...

Hey, this conversation is a lot more fun than making PowerPoint slides.

cheers,

jo

--
Jo Walsh

Unlock places - http://unlock.edina.ac.uk/
phone: +44 (0)131 650 2973
skype: metazool

10

Hi Jo,

Cameron thanks for reinforcing the investment-in-community point - i
plan to emphasise gvSIG and Geomajas as projects that have origins in
enlightened public administrations - i would love to see the numbers
that added up to “let’s develop our own desktop GIS in house rather than
buy software licenses”…

It was not only about cost savings. There was a full migration to open source, and there were no GIS desktop tools running on linux (apart from Grass), so it was decided to build a brand-new GIS desktop based on Java (for multiplatform support).

Some studies have been done comparing figures, but IMHO it’s like comparing pears and apples, because with privative closed software there were just a few users (around 20-30), and now, as it’s free, there are more than 300. That’s a gain difficult to compare with previous situation talking only on a cost basis.

Hey, this conversation is a lot more fun than making PowerPoint slides.

For sure, Power ¿what? :stuck_out_tongue:

Cheers,

Miguel

11

thanks Miguel,

On 27/04/2010 22:58, Miguel Montesinos wrote:

Hey, this conversation is a lot more fun than making PowerPoint slides.

For sure, Power ¿what? :stuck_out_tongue:

Well i am making them with OpenOffice if that helps, but it still feels the same kind of blah.

I still like prezi.com a lot, but with little time and needing to work offline on the train, not this time...

cheers,

jo
--
Jo Walsh

Unlock places - http://unlock.edina.ac.uk/
phone: +44 (0)131 650 2973
skype: metazool

12

dear all, unsent mail...
On 27/04/2010 18:51, Alex Mandel wrote:

In addition to the dual vendor idea I usually add this explanation.

You could spend your money on 5 licenses for a big tool that might do
what you want or you could spend the money on a developer/support to
make the tool you need and use it on as many computers as you need.
It's not always a pure cost savings but a shift in the allocation of
money in a way that makes you work more efficiently and ensure 100%
support for all issues but without the risk of having to write
completely in house software(meaning there are plenty of people around
the world you could hire at any moment to do the work for you).

"Invest in your people, not in your suppliers" - but that doesn't reflect the caveats and complexities. Not easy to do that in bullet points!

Maybe a buying vs renting a house analogy?

cheers,

jo

--
Jo Walsh

Unlock places - http://unlock.edina.ac.uk/
phone: +44 (0)131 650 2973
skype: metazool

13

Jo Walsh wrote:

dear all, unsent mail...
On 27/04/2010 18:51, Alex Mandel wrote:

In addition to the dual vendor idea I usually add this explanation.

You could spend your money on 5 licenses for a big tool that might do
what you want or you could spend the money on a developer/support to
make the tool you need and use it on as many computers as you need.
It's not always a pure cost savings but a shift in the allocation of
money in a way that makes you work more efficiently and ensure 100%
support for all issues but without the risk of having to write
completely in house software(meaning there are plenty of people around
the world you could hire at any moment to do the work for you).

"Invest in your people, not in your suppliers" - but that doesn't
reflect the caveats and complexities. Not easy to do that in bullet points!

Maybe a buying vs renting a house analogy?

cheers,

jo

Hiring your own contractor to renovate/maintain rather than relying on
your slum lord to fix things when they break(when they feel like it).

Alex