Microsoft hits back at government's open source plans

Vendor brands plans to ditch Open XML technology as 'ill considered'

Microsoft has urged its partners to pay closer attention to what it describes as the government's "ill-considered" proposals to move to a more open IT model.

Last month, the government hinted it was considering moving away from technology such as Microsoft Office in favour of open-source offerings in an effort to break supplier "oligopoly".

According to Microsoft, the government is currently undergoing a consultation on plans to mandate the use of Open Document Formats (ODF) and to ditch Microsoft-developed Open XML (OOXML).

Today, in a blog post to UK resellers, Microsoft said the new open approach could cause problems for businesses and government IT suppliers.

"This move has the potential to impact businesses selling to government, who may be forced to comply [with the new open format]," it said.

"It also sets a worrying precedent because government is, in effect, refusing to support another internationally recognised open standard and may do so for other similar popular standards in the future, potentially impacting anyone who wishes to sell to government."

Microsoft Office has supported ODF since 2007, the vendor claimed, but added that adoption of OOXML has been more widespread.

It stressed it was not calling on the government to drop its plans to use ODF tech, but said it wants it to use both OOXML and ODF versions of open-source technology.

"We believe very strongly that the current proposal is ill considered and is likely to increase costs, cause dissatisfaction amongst citizens and businesses, add complexity to the process of dealing with government and negatively impact some suppliers to government," it added.

Responding to Microsot's comments, a Cabinet Office representative stated: "As part of our long-term economic plan, we're committed to opening up government procurement to a wider range of suppliers. We want to see a greater range of software used and for departments to choose what is right for them and the users of their services."