An interesting piece of research came my way today courtesy of Computer Weekly magazine. They asked their tame panel questions about open-source versus commercial software, and published their findings here.

The section of interest to OpenOffice.org enthusiasts states:

The majority of panellists have not trialled or reviewed any office/desktop productivity software, although around a third (35%) have looked at Open Office. Those working in smaller organisations (50 employees or less) appear to be more prepared for their next upgrade with two thirds having trialled or reviewed any potential software.

Despite this, a significant proportion (66%) believe that they are most likely to implement Microsoft Office 2010, although intentions to implement Open Office was higher amongst those organisations with less than 50 employees.

This provides evidence to support our belief that in large organisations, software purchasing decision makers are pretty conservative – “no-one gets fired for buying Microsoft”. In smaller organisations, decision makers are more willing to do their own research, and having tried OpenOffice.org, are more likely to go for it. They are probably also more careful with their budgets!

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