Future of Open Source

James Fogarty Cork County Council Tim Willoughby LGMA

The Irish Context

• Effect on Local Government• 30k less in the public sector / 3.4bn in payroll savings…

• DPER / OGCIO (CMOD)• Staffing – (Employment Control Frameworks (ECF) / Haddington Road) 28% reduction• Budgets / 25% reduction in Budget (2009 – 2013)• CIO Council / National ICT Strategy • Reform Agenda (Programme for Government)• Local Government reform (PPF)

PMO / LGER

• Local Government IT• Staffing• Maintain Skills / New Skills• Local Budgets• CIO Council

National ICT Strategy

• CIO Council / OGCIO• Cloud Procurement• Gcloud?• Government Networks?

• Office of Government Procurement• Category Council

• PMO / LGER• Shared Services• Shared Technology Platforms• Shared Delivery• BPI

• LGMA Role• Shared Services

Who is using Open Source in Irish Government• Revenue• Alfresco

• Department Of Ag• Hosted Payroll on Open Source OS

• OPW• Open Office / Zarafa

• Local Government – Heat map

We can rely on change….

• Abolishment of Town Councils –creation of Muni Districts• Creation of Irish Water• Establishment of CIO• Establishment of Office for Government Procurement• Shared Services (PMO –Payroll, Treasury Management….. NPPR / HC)• LG sector Saves 109m in procurement (2010 – 2012)• Outsourcing – LPT, Drivers License, HEG• OGCIO – Cloud and eGov Strategies• Digital First, Digital by Birth, Digital by Default…. • Systems – MyPlan, FixYourStreet, NPPR, HC, POW, BCMS• Open Source - Revenue (Alfresco)

A lot has changed in open source since 2009…• Major Cities Conference in Cork• Desktop is not even part of Open Source Strategy in Ireland (Advent of

Cloud Applications – the real success is at the back end – remove CALS)• Number of Mature Open Source Products• Number of Worldwide adopted Products – Alfresco, Drupal, Sugar, etc• Investment by Large Corporates in Open Source (Sun, IBM, Oracle)• Mobility, Social, Cloud, Data all underpinned by rise of Open Source• Local Government Understanding has matured with viable national

repeatable, successful case studies using Open Source

Decisions Due / We have to make

• Libraries• Cloud System / Single Interface for all

• Housing• Stock Surveys – Handhelds -Android

• Corporate• FixYourStreet – An OSS Application using Ushahidi (SDCC)• Sugar CRM – Back end to FYS and more (Cork, Limerick, Meath counties)• Open Office – Galway City replaced 250 desktops• Drupal – almost all Las have Drupal Website live in some area.• GEO Server – Cork County - PIR

• Roads• Open Layers– LGMA – Road Opening Licenses

• Planning• Cork Co Co have Offered Odyssey (a .net app) as Open Source

• Environment

Who is investing in Open Source

• IBM (OpenStack … Open Office .. Open everything….)• Oracle / Sun (MySQL, Apache.. Java…)• HP (OpenStack..)• Dell (OpenStack)• Amazon (Platform as a service)• Facebook (Open Compute Programme)• Google (Android, Chrome, etc)• Microsoft??? (Catchup)

What Makes OSS Attractive?

Lower costs

Superior security

Freedom of VENDOR Lock

Community support

Access to code libraries

Rapid pace of innovation

Freedom of DIY

Lower costs

Superior security

Freedom of VENDOR lock-in

Better quality software

Access to code libraries

Rapid pace of innovation

Freedom of DIY

200820092009

Lower costs

Superior security

Freedom of VENDOR lock-in

Better quality software

Access to code libraries

Rapid pace of innovation

Freedom of DIY

20102010

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Lower costs

Superior security

Freedom of VENDOR lock-in

Better quality software

Access to code libraries

Rapid pace of innovation

FLEXIBILITY

20112011

Lower costs

Superior security

Freedom of VENDOR lock-in

Better quality software

Access to code libraries

Rapid pace of innovation

FLEXIBILITY

20122012

Lower costs

Superior security

Freedom of VENDOR lock-in

Better quality software

Access to code libraries

Rapid pace of innovation

FLEXIBILITY

20132013

Drivers of OSS Tipping Point

EconomicDownturn

Public SectorAdoption

Private SectorAdoption

PastExperienceWith OSS

Other

April 10, 2023 12

Social

Mobile

DATA

Cloud

DATA

4 Global ThemesALL OPEN SOURCE

Examples of Systems / Shared Hosting• Payroll (Oracle / Red Hat Linux)• Superannuation (Oracle / Red Hat Linux)• Financial Management system (Agresso / MS SQL / WIndows)• Household Charge (.Net Front end / SugarCRM Backend)• Protect Our Water (.Net Front end / SugarCRM Backend)• NPPR (.Net Front end / SugarCRM Backend)• Building Control (Drupal Front end / SugarCRM Backend)

Products in use

• OS• Ubuntu• RedHat• Centos

• Applications• Sugar CRM• Alfresco• Drupal

• Desktop• Open Office

• Telephony• Asterisk

• Specialty• Geo Server (GIS)• PFSense

• Database• MySQL

• eMail• Zarafa

Open Source Stacks up!

Analysis of OSS v MS

• The major issue is CAL…• Operating System• Document Management

When do we use Open Source?• Where it makes financial sense• Pragmatism needs to guide open source adoption and not ideology• Open source is not just or only or always about free or cheap - it can bring

a number of distinct and enduring benefits when contrasted tostrategies based around proprietary software• Migrating to open source is more likely to be successful if it is done

when there is a real and present need for change, rather than simplyon the basis of finding open source attractive on infrastructure costor non proprietary arguments• Adoption and development of open source can support the sharing of

both expertise and expense between government bodies, for example among local authorities forming a flexible route to collaboration.

Success…

• Maturity – if it was written last night – we are not using it.. No matter what platform….• World Wide solutions - where the rest of the world has already proved success.

• CRM • Document Management• Content Management• Database• Telephony

• Sector Wide Solutions• Browser First• Commoditisation• Specialisation• Commercial Open Source

Commercial Open Source

• Why people have issues with Open Source• Lack of formal support and services.• Velocity of change.• Roadmap Openness…

• What does Commercial Open Source bring…• Formal support with service level agreements (SLAs)• Professional services• Certified software stacks• Product roadmaps• Closer functional parity with proprietary alternatives• Reference accounts, cases studies, and user groups

Open Source Case Study – LGMA use of SugarCRM for Household Charge, POW and NPPR

The Issues…

• 2008 financial crisis• EU/IMF/ECB (‘Troika’) bailout• New Taxes (be Ready)• Keep the Lights on Investment• Significant Investment in Microsoft Technologies• Growth of Open Source Across the World

The answer…

• Newly merged State Agency• Shared services provider• Shared Successes• Limited time, money, resources• Prioritise • Must do• should do• could do

Local Government and

The solution…• Must do…

• Take calls, e-mails, paper forms• Credit card, debit card, direct debit, cash• Exceptions

• Should do• Reporting• Support contract• Interface directly with PBX• Scanning Interface to remove Paper quicker• Manage Campaigns, for Future Taxation• Contact Future Householders re Next Year Tax

• Could do• Social Media Interface - Twitter in / Out• Integrated Account for Householders• Online Interface directly to CRM

Why SugarCRM Community Edition?

• SugarCRM Community Edition has no license cost• Easy to use• Easy to Install• It’s a Platform• Not just a CRM• Information Management • Customer Interaction – rather than Ticket Management• Out of the Box Flexibility to dynamic scalability

The storm

Processes

Processes

Infrastructure Overview…Day 1

Infrastructure Overview…Present Day

Records

• Additional programmes• Protect our Water (PoW)• Non Principal Private Residence (NPPR)

Records

Records

Records

Records

Benefits• Reduced costs

• Implementation Cost were similar to costs for Implementing any CRM• Big Savings in end user costs for 320 concurrent users at peak. • Sugar has no Client License cost.

• Strengths • Integrated data• Ease of use / Flexibility / End User configurations changed daily – role based• Adaptable / all users can configure their work spaces and environments• Stability – Sub Second response for all users• Performance – Scaled to 800,000 records on single DB Server

• Recommendations• Define desired outcome – It pays in the long run to spend your time on defining

processes and workflows / Requirements• If at all possible – use the core modules• Keep it simple to begin with and build on it

Social Media and SugarCRM in Local Government

National WebsiteCreates National

Incidents Feeds Local CRMNow working with Twitter

Real-time Twitter dashlet

• Twitter Dashlet is your window looking outside to Twitter from your SugarCRM • As many search dashlets as you need to track all searches important

to your organisation

Tweets to lead conversion

• It gives you ability to look up and find leads from Twitter search without even leaving your SugarCRM system.

Tweets to case conversion

• Create cases in SugarCRM from Tweets and use these data to track issues. Take your customer care to the next level.

Twitter feeds

• Easily Tweet ContactPosting a Tweet and sending your inbound marketing message from your SugarCRM system has never been easier. Keep relationships with your contacts in real time on social media.• Separation of Duties

Duties can be separated within the module and spread out to your authorized users.• Full Twitter Audit Log

This feature will allow authorized users the ability to view and monitor, by user, any changes made to your SugarCRM instance through the GetSocial module as well as outgoing Tweets to your Twitter account.

Telephony Integration

• Cloud Asterisk Solution• SIP Phone EndPoint• SugarCRM integration• IVR from the Household Charge / POW / NPPR• Multiple Voice Queues• Blueface Integration for National / International Dialling• Pay per use rather than Capital Model• Instant Stats• Less than €2,000 p.a.

Open Souce Case Study BCMS

Public InterfaceDrupal Based

Use Existing Local Government PortalReusable Components

RegistrationForms

Document UploadePayments

LA Process ManagementSugarCRM Based

Household Charge InfrastructureTakes Data from DrupalBack Office Functions

Open Source Case Study

• Laois Payroll Shared Service• Shared Desktop / VDI

• Sugar CRM to Manage Cases, Queries• CORE system for Payroll• Hosted Email

• Cloud Asterisk Solution for Telephony Integration / IVR• All run from Revenue DataCentre • Consumed through iGel terminal• Reuse of Existing Solutions

What is the Future of SugarCRM in the Sector..• Twitter Integration• Telephony Integration• Business System Interaction / Integration• Service Catalogue

Top 5 International Barriers to OSS selection and Irish Experiences with them

• Inertia – (Crises – Lack of Money)• Lack of internal technical skills and Unfamiliarity with open source

solutions (New Projects / Green Field – Skilling by use)• Lack of formal commercial vendor support

(Not True – if government is spending….)• Legal Concerns re Licensing – Same as Proprietary (Ref LG 99)• Does not conform to Internal Policies / Strategies (Stringent Policy

may change when budgets are removed / reduced)

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