Svar: [bizdev] Supporting OpenOffice

[Torben Sørensen]

Hi James, I run a Linux and Open Source consultancy company in Denmark. During the last two years we have helped in two pilot projects with af total of 500+ users and helped a number of smaller companies and organisations (total 400+ users) migrate to OpenOffice.org 1.1.3 (1½ years ago). We have typically used 3 hours of education per user to "convert" their existing Office knowledge til OOo knowledge (with strong focus on Writer and Calc). This is usually enough for the majority of users. Some of the organisations didn't stay with OOo after the pilot (a that time due to problems with Excel kompatibility, Macros and political reasons). Education has per invoiced as per user per class. Support on fixed price during the pilot and by the hour afterwards. Most issues has been e.g. - This function I know from MS Office - how can that be done in OOo - file convertion questions (MS Office - OOo) - Help with using Styles the best way We didn't have any "dumb" questions. Most questions that did have a solution was solved within 15 min. Questions that turned out to be related to non-existing functions in OOo or plain bugs took some more time to try to solve, make worksrounds and report to openoffice.org. I think that after the first few weeks you will see very little support insidents, but you wil have to spend more time on each. Support is not more than similar Office suites (none mentioned, none forgotten). You will need to judge your users level before you estimate their need for support- our users were all well educated and motivated professionals with experience in other office suites. Feel free to email me directly if you need more advice (although I will be on holiday the next 2½ weeks with no mail access. Kind regards Torben Casalogic Denmark Venlig hilsen Torben Sjørman Sørensen Casalogic Nattergalevej 6 2400 København NV Tel. 7020 1063 Fax 4484 4787 www.casalogic.dk >>> Fre, mar 17, 2006 kl.  4:39 pm skrev [EMAIL PROTECTED] i meddelelse <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: Hello BizDev Mailing List, I was wondering if any of you would be kind enough to answer a few questions regarding your experiences with openoffice in the commercial world.  I run a business in the UK thats mission is to bring open source software to the business world, and I'm looking into the viability of promoting and supporting openoffice. The basic model is to charge businesses a yearly fee, and in return install openoffice and upgrade it once a year, and offer support services. What I would like to know is: Once OpenOffice is installed on a typical windows desktop, how often will people be likely to ask for support?  How much support is typically asked for?  (How long does the typical issue take to resolve). Is anyone in the UK offering OpenOffice support already?  If so, maybe we can team up.  If not, would anyone be interested in using my support services? Kind Regards, James Hill --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]