Big companies set to use more free software

[DF Bot]

The pervading economic gloom has driven a lot of cuts in business, and IT budgets certainly aren’t immune to them.

In fact, recent research by software developer Global Graphics indicates that 51% of large firms are going to deploy free software in 2010, mainly because their IT spending has been frozen or cut.

The survey interviewed some 400 CIOs from large companies (those with at least a thousand employees), 300 of which were US based, and 100 from the UK.

Two-thirds of those CIOs said that their budget was the same, or less, than it was in 2009.

Indeed, 76% of big businesses already use free software, such as Adobe Reader, Java or Flash. Free alternatives to Microsoft Office are also being employed, such as OpenOffice.

“Free software is a critical part of large organizations’ IT strategies,” said Gary Fry, CEO of Global Graphics. “Large organizations are perfectly prepared to use free software where possible, and upgrade to a full paid-for version of the product where it makes sense for them.”

[Zippeyrude]

what a bollocks article. adobe, java and flash. of course businesses use this 'free' software.

Free alternatives to Microsoft Office are also being employed, such as OpenOffice.

so the 76% includes adobe etc, its not the same as saying 76% of businesses use open office or gimp or other free 'proper' applications.

[Northernbloke]

LOL - our company still uses the free versions of Hyperterminal, SnagIT and many other apps - no need to use anything else as long as they do the job