UK government to switch to open source office suite
A new deal announced today between the Crown Commercial Service and open source consultants Collabora will provide public sector organisations with savings on GovOffice, an open source office suite based on LibreOffice.
Collabora GovOffice is is compatible with both Google Docs and Microsoft Office (including the cloud version Office 365) and includes comprehensive support for the latest version of Open Document Format, which is recommended by the Cabinet Office for use by government organisations.
With a familiar interface for creating documents, spreadsheets, presentations and more (none of that ribbon nonsense. Ed.), Collabora GovOffice offers considerable cost savings compared to competing proprietary packages.
In addition, the forthcoming Collabora CloudSuite will extend Collabora GovOffice with internet and mobile access for viewing and editing documents, as well as online access in web browsers. IT managers will be able to deploy the cloud software locally, providing remote access to documents.
The deal covers both Collabora products and applies to all non-profit making government organisations, including those working on behalf of government, either directly or via outsourcing.
