I am not sure what is in the waters of Open Text customers lately, but since the summer we are now on our third scenario where an existing Open Text client has decided not to renew a £100k plus Support and Maintenance contract, and has instead decided to investigate Alfresco.

With interesting consequences I might add ....

We have one scenario where the options on the table are £130k per annum S&M for an existing Open Text install, or a £22k per annum, like for like Support and Maintenance contract with Alfresco (obviously you do not pay for the Alfresco software, as it is open source).

So, just by deciding to switch ... you start saving £110,000 per annum .... ???

Take that to your CFO, £330k saving over the next 3 years .... £550k saving over the next 5 years ...

Hmmmmm ?????

Which is all well and good, but is Alfresco up to the job???

So, here is the thing. These evaluations have not been taken lightly, as I am sure you can imagine.

This is a significant decision, and not one driven by any issues or complaints with the Open Text software, purely a commercial driver given the current backdrop of recession and a need to cut costs across the board.

We have found that we have been able to meet all of the requirements of the evaluation, leveraging Alfresco. In some instances we have had to think long and hard as to how best to build some add on modules to the Alfresco suite to replace some of the legacy functionality of Open Text, but having prototyped our thinking, we have come up trumps .....

Watch this space for some case studies as we roll into live implementations, and do yourself a favour ... take a long hard look at the options before signing off another expensive Support and Maintenance contract ... you could be pleasantly surprised!