14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft and the Italian Ministry of Defense have reached a deal that will eventually bring the Windows 10 operating system on all computers used by civil and military employees, local media reports.
The partnership between the two is not yet official, but newspaper Milano Finanza explains that an announcement would be made in the next few days.
The main focus, which is very likely to be emphasized by both Microsoft and the Italian ministry in the press release, is on improving security on employee computers using technologies that are available in Windows 10. The exact steps of the transition and the target timeframe will be disclosed in the announcement as well.
Giving up on Microsoft Office for LibreOffice
What’s really interesting isn’t necessarily that the Italian Ministry of Defense is adopting Windows 10, but the fact that earlier this year, representatives announced the deployment of LibreOffice instead of Microsoft Office. The goal was to cut costs without impacting productivity, and local authorities planned to move no less than 100,000 computers from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice.
"Taking into account the deadlines set by our current Microsoft Office licenses, we will have 75,000 (70%) LibreOffice users by 2017, and an additional 25,000 by 2020," said General Camillo Sileo, Deputy Chief of Department VI, Systems Department C4I, for the Transformation of Defense and General Staff, for ISA (Interoperability Solutions for European Public Administrations).
The ministry said it expected to save up to €29 million thanks to licensing costs alone, all without impacting productivity. Authorities worked with LIbreItalia to assist employees as they adopted the new productivity suite and create digital courses to help them complete the transition.
Without a doubt, however, a deal to install Windows 10 on so many PCs is an important win for Microsoft, especially given the fact that the ministry abandoned Microsoft Office for good. We’re looking forward to the official announcement when all details will be published.