Case Study: Oxford Archaeology achieves open-source migration and cost savings with Ubuntu

Ubuntu is the open source platform of choice for Oxford Archaeology

Oxford Archaeology is a leading archaeological and heritage‑management organisation founded in 1973 that employs over 300 specialists and works on high‑profile national and international projects. Faced with rising long‑term costs and vendor lock‑in from a Microsoft‑centric IT stack—and with most staff trained as archaeologists rather than IT experts—CIO Chris Puttick set a strategic goal to replace proprietary software with open source alternatives.

The organisation is migrating to an Ubuntu‑based desktop and server stack (with OpenOffice, Zimbra, PostgreSQL/PostGIS and plans for GRASS/QGIS) and moving Windows users gradually to Ubuntu desktops or thin clients, with Canonical support planned for production servers. The shift is materially reducing software and hardware costs, cutting dependence on a single vendor, and putting Oxford Archaeology well on the way to a full open source IT environment.

Oxford Archaeology

Chris Puttick

Chief Information Officer