Introduction

Migrating an organisation whose infrastructure and systems are based on proprietary software to an open-source environment will throw up some specific issues that will need to be managed by you to ensure a smooth transition for your organisation.

There are, however, also a lot of similarities between the implementation of proprietary or open-source software systems. The same concerns about protecting data, keeping the organisation functioning through the changes and making sure that budgets are kept under control.

The diagram below illustrates the broad areas that will be covered in the following three chapters. Time runs from left to right, beginning at the feasibility stage and going through the implementation to the final review.

The following three chapters will look at each area of this process:

There is a significant degree of overlap between these three areas: projects, for example, will contain elements of financial control and people management.

Furthermore, in smaller organisations there may be no need to separate out the various elements as the changes required to migrate to open source may only involve a few computers. Larger organisations, on the other hand, will have more formal management structures and programme/project control processes and will consequently have to more closely define, justify and manage a migration programme.