Success Stories

City of Munich, Germany

LiMux - The Linux Migration of the City of Munich

The municipality of Munich will soon start using Open Source products both for the operating systems of about 14,000 computers and for the office software. By the spring of 2004, the concrete rollout scenarios will be determined on the basis of a detailed project ("LiMux - The IT evolution"). Thus, the city is quickly approaching the Linux implementation decided in the summer of 2003. In this way, the city opts for vendor independence in order to have a free choice of software.

The decision of the state capital Munich was triggered by Microsoft's discontinuation of the sale and support of Windows NT 4.0, the operating system currently in use at the municipality. At the general meeting of the city council on May 28, 2003, members of SPD, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen/Rosa Liste, FDP, ÖDP, REP, and PDS voted in favor of the landmark decision that ends the dependence on a single vendor and opens the way to freely available Open Source products (such as Linux). The decision merely represents a strategic positioning; the awarding of contracts has not yet been finalized.

Apart from lower consequential costs and increased vendor independence, the decision also paved the way to more competition in the software market. Munich expects this decision to yield positive financial results and an increased unification of protocols and interfaces in the medium run. In terms of IT security, Open Source products boast the advantage that security settings in the open source code are more transparent and comprehensible than in proprietary, closed systems. Furthermore, employees will benefit from increased stability and availability of workstation systems.

The detailed concept for the migration possibilities is jointly prepared by all units and will constitute the basis for the decision of the city council. This evaluation, which runs under the project name "LiMux - The IT Evolution", identifies suitable products and their costs as well as the most effective, least time-consuming staff training options.

"LiMux - The IT Evolution" is controlled by the Department for Information and Data Processing (AfID) whose task is to duly complete the detailed concept with a high quality level and subsequently assist the departments during the migration phase with suitable procedures and tools. The detailed concept is prepared in collaboration with IBM Germany and the individual units. The city council entrusted the project management to the AfID. SUSE LINUX and IBM provide methodical and technical assistance for the project implementation.

Together with the units, the AfID will develop the workflows for the version and update management in order to ensure perpetually secure and stable versions of the operating system and the office components at the locations. Moreover, the IT service provider of the City of Munich will take care of the development and operation of suitable web applications.

The migration is being prepared in a highly professional way: back in the spring of 2003, a workgroup was formed with representatives from all units that participated in the project from the outset. Following the landmark decision of the city council, this workgroup became the project group "Client Migration" which continues to coordinate the further procedure in regular intervals. When staffing the five subproject groups responsible for specific tasks, the decision makers made sure that as many units as possible are actively involved. Moreover, the superordinate subproject group "Communication" ensures the smooth exchange of topical information between all involved. The communication includes brochures, information events, target group information, and the intranet with a special category providing the latest information for all interested staff members.

LiMux - The IT Evolution in Munich

The preliminary study on the Linux migration of the City of Munich clearly shows that the goal is not merely the inexpensive provision of reliable IT services for the municipal authorities, but also the enhancement of the strategic value of the IT for the operational units. In view of this background, the following subprojects were launched in the first stage:

Subproject "Client Configuration"
In the subproject "Client Configuration", default selection and evaluation methods were applied for the systematic selection of suitable Open Source software components. Proven security concepts for the Linux client, desktop ergonomics studies, and software distribution concepts complement the results.

Subproject "Open Test and Validation Center"
The subproject "Open Test and Validation Center" combines the experiences of the hardware and software certifications and the test management in order to ensure that software components run in a stable and reliable way on the selected platforms. The range of activities includes professional test and acceptance procedures and the preparation of installation packages for the automatic distribution of software.

Subproject "Training Concept"
The subproject "Training Concept" delivery a highly efficient, demand-specific training plan. Efficiency is ensured by a know-how analysis of the end users with respect to their specific responsibilities, which enables advanced customization of training modules to target groups. Furthermore, IBM contributes its experience in the field of e-learning. Thus, the same structures can be used for preparing Linux training manuals for traditional classroom training as well as for e-learning modules.

Subproject "Migration Planning"
Within the scope of the subproject "Migration Planning", IBM provides combined process and infrastructure assessment methods that facilitate migration analyses that are specifically adapted to the application landscapes of the municipality and which show the cost impact of various migration and consolidation alternatives. For example, this approach was used to visualize the cost efficiency resulting from the consolidation on the basis of Open Source services in the overall topology.

Subproject "Central Services and Infrastructures"
The subproject "Central Services and Infrastructures" serves the analysis of the dependencies of the Linux clients on central infrastructure services. In the course of the migration, server structures could also be reconsidered and redesigned with best-practice concepts. In this area, IBM and SUSE LINUX contribute their competence in the Linux enterprise market.

Conclusion

Following the successful completion of "LiMux - The IT Evolution" in the spring of 2004, the state capital Munich will have an open test and validation center, a training concept for the migration to Open Source products, and a framework concept for the migration in the units. All these subprojects can continue to be utilized in the Munich municipality and projected to other municipalities.

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