Gartner: Lotus Symphony No Competition for Microsoft Office
IBM's Lotus Symphony will be unable to break the dominance of Microsoft's Office package according to market researchers Gartner. Open Office still has too many deficits for enterprise use, they say, and the future belongs to Web-based office and collaboration solutions.
In its analysis, Gartner assumes that IBM is aiming to shake up Microsoft's market dominance in office applications with Lotus Symphony. Microsoft Office is widespread and corporations need full compatibility, which Open Office does not guarantee, according to the market researchers. In the long term the institute believes that Web 2.0 applications will prove the more serious competitor to Microsoft, stating that it would take too long for the Open Office project to benefit significantly from IBM's contribution.
Due to its 10-year support guarantee for office products, Microsoft has bred a moment of inertia into its products that prevents the use of Open Document solutions in corporations. Various functions that are only available in MS Office and the lack of compatibility between document formats are the other factors that make MS Office so reticent. Lotus Symphony relies on the Open Office word processing, spreadsheet and presentations software modules, as Linux Magazine reported. IBM thus supports the free ODF with its free Lotus Symphony Office Suite.
Interest in the Open Document Standard is likely to increase, and Gartner's IT strategists cite the OOXML flop as the major reason for this. Barrier-free use as advertised by IBM may cause authorities to move to Open Office in future, as this deficit was a major obstacle in the past. And IBM's press release points to the excellent response the Symphony Suite has received in the first few weeks.
In the meantime, IBM's competitor has not been idle, and collaborative editing capabilities make Web applications a third alternative. This is the bigger threat to Microsoft, says the Gartner analysis, as Lotus Symphony does not offer enough in the line of benefits compared with Open Office.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Endless OS 6 has Arrived
After more than a year since the last update, the latest release of Endless OS is now available for general usage.
-
Fedora Asahi 40 Remix Available for Macs with Apple Silicon
If you've been anticipating KDE's Plasma 6 for your Apple Silicon-powered Mac, then you're in luck.
-
Red Hat Adds New Deployment Option for Enterprise Linux Platforms
Red Hat has re-imagined enterprise Linux for an AI future with Image Mode.
-
OSJH and LPI Release 2024 Open Source Pros Job Survey Results
See what open source professionals look for in a new role.
-
Proton 9.0-1 Released to Improve Gaming with Steam
The latest release of Proton 9 adds several improvements and fixes an issue that has been problematic for Linux users.
-
So Long Neofetch and Thanks for the Info
Today is a day that every Linux user who enjoys bragging about their system(s) will mourn, as Neofetch has come to an end.
-
Ubuntu 24.04 Comes with a “Flaw"
If you're thinking you might want to upgrade from your current Ubuntu release to the latest, there's something you might want to consider before doing so.
-
Canonical Releases Ubuntu 24.04
After a brief pause because of the XZ vulnerability, Ubuntu 24.04 is now available for install.
-
Linux Servers Targeted by Akira Ransomware
A group of bad actors who have already extorted $42 million have their sights set on the Linux platform.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.