grelmar - 4:02 am on May 16, 2010 (gmt 0)

Smaller offices like yours may find it easy to switch, but when you've got several thousand installs, systems in place, years of training, and customers who rely on the compatibility of exchanging data in MS formats, then the choice isn't so easy.

I can totally agree with that - Large offices with entrenched IT standards and practices are very slow to change. I would even go so far as to argue that companies with more than 250 or 300 staff would be in a tough spot if they had to make the change.

Also, large companies see greater benefits from Sharepoint and all the collaborative functions of MS office pay their way.

But for small(ish) companies, which used to be really bread and butter sales for Microsoft, is the value still there?

I can generate the reports in OO, then spend a few minutes using CS4 to "glitz it up" a bit and pump it out to customers in a PDF that looks really high quality, better than MS office can do, actually. CS4, sadly, we can't get away from (and the expense there is even worse than MS Office)...

Ok, I'm rambling, and it's Saturday night and I should be in the backyard with the wife by the firepit... Have a good one folks.