Impediments to the adoption of desktop Open Source Software (OSS) in a South African Provincial Government Department
Date
2012-01-23
Authors
Muyoyeta, Mwangala I.
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Abstract
Using a case study methodology, this research study set out to investigate the
reasons for the poor adoption rate of OpenOffice.org to replace Microsoft Office
on the desktop. The BRW Model (Brink, Roos, Van Belle and Weller 2007) for
the successful migration to desktop Open Source Software (OSS) was used to
frame the research, guide the data analysis and identify the critical success
factors for desktop OSS migration. The research supports the literature review
and theory that migrating from existing proprietary software to OSS on the
desktop has got very high switching barriers and has to be conducted in a
gradual or phased approach with dedicated ownership and support from all levels
in an organisation. The financial savings that are obtainable from implementing
free OSS such as OpenOffice.org can be easily outstripped by the
implementation cost if due care is not taken in the planning and budgeting for the
project
Description
MBA thesis - WBS
Keywords
Open source software, Provincial departments - computerisation