Yes, according to a new report from BECTA called Open Source Software in Schools: A Case Study, which says that open source software may be up to 50% cheaper for primary schools and 20% for secondary schools. This sounds like great news for Sun Microsystems whose StarOffice 7 productivity suite is free for all educational institutions. Achieving the level of saving predicted in the report is predicated on several assumptions that may make switching away from proprietary operating systems and products less attractive to many schools.
Key amongst these is the need for schools to have one or more dedicated champions to drive the initial implementation as well as any training and maintenance. Are Microsoft worried; probably not because of their market dominance and heavily discounted educational pricing structure. However, their plan to help educational institutions drive greater value from software investment shows they are aware of the competitive threat posed by the Open Source movement.
