Office 2007 or OpenOffice.Org

In case you haven't heard, as of April 14, Microsoft has ended its free support for Office 2003. The popular application which includes programs such as Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint, now enters its second five-year phase, called "extended support". Users will still be able to download free security updates through the Microsoft Update service but will have to pay for per-incident product support. Users requesting non-security hotfixes will need to purchase a Microsoft Extended Hotfix Support Agreement.

For the small business this creates several challenges:
1. Do we purchase the extended support?
2. Do we skip extended support and simply rely on the free security fixes for the time being?
3. Should we upgrade to Office 2007 and attempt to learn the new "ribbon" interface?
4. Do we consider moving to OpenOffice.org or another suite?

Let's explore these options.
For small or mid-sized shops with minimal or no IT staff options 1 or 2 may be viable based on how many PCs you have and your average number of monthly incidents. You will have to weigh out the costs of purchasing the extended support versus paying approximately $59 on a per-incident basis. For more information regarding purchasing support options, visit support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy

Upgrading to Office 2007 can seem like a daunting proposition. The interface is dramatically different than previous versions. The new "ribbon" interface is more intuitive but takes some getting used to. If upgrading is your chosen route, plan on a fairly sizable learning curve for your staff. Take advantage of training materials and tools provided on the microsoft office web site (www.microsoft.com/officebusiness/).

The final option to consider is a move to OpenOffice.org (www.openoffice.org/), the free office suite provided by Sun Microsystems (there is also a version available from Novell). This suite includes a word processor, spreadsheet program, presentation tool and a small database program similar to MS Access. The interface is more akin to Office 2003 and the price (free) can't be beat. However, it does lack a lot of the scripting/macro options that Office handled. So if you have a fairly customized version of Word running, this may not be your best choice. On the otherhand, if you just use the programs straight out of the box, this may be a viable alternative, especially if you are looking to reduce licensing costs.

What are your plans? If you own or manage a small business and are looking for help or guidance regarding Office or any other technology issue, please visit our web site: http://www.zim-network.net/. We will be happy to meet with you to discuss how to maximize your organization's technology ROI.