Daybreak is a nonprofit that focuses on drug and alcohol treatment for teenagers. They are based in Washington state and operate in 2 cities, Spokane and Vancouver (Washington), each city is it's own hub with three offices in each. They employ roughly 100 staff people.
Daybreak began transition to using FOSS software around 10 years ago. Their vision was to use a central server to host all the files and data that their staff would need to access. As they are a drug and alcohol treatment service, confidentiality of their clients' records is paramount and they wanted to limit the ability of staff to store information locally on their own computers. They developed a long term technology strategic plan that involved the use of thin clients, computers that access most of the programs and files from a central server.
They explored using Windows desktop in combination with running Windows Server, but the system requirements were too great and the cost of "per seat" licensing for Windows Server was prohibitive. Also upgrading their Windows machines every three years or so, had a range of issues from software and existing hardware compatibility to costs as well.
The Executive Director, Tim Smith, had a growing interest in how open source might support their technology plan and they were able to identify a vendor that specialized in Linux, Interlink Advantage in Spokane, WA. They used Ubuntu as it was a more user-friendly distribution based on Debian. They had a lot of learnings along the way: using older donated machines ended up being too problematic and it was more cost-effective to use newer low end machines – they also needed to standardize their use of NICs (network interface cards).
Their healthcare record system is browser-based, open source and was developed by Athena Software based in Ontario. This database is central to the core activities of the organization and fits with Tim's vision that in the future all software will be browser-based. When ever the system needs updating or modified, it's simply done on the server without having to do any work with any of the clients.
Today, 75% of their staff's workstations are thin-clients running Ubuntu. When they log into their desktops they just see icons to startup Firefox (to access the healthcare record system) the centralized file system, OpenOffice and the time keeping system.
The other 25% are desktops or laptops running Windows XP or Windows 7. Daybreak is now migrating these to Ubuntu desktops, but a few are still doing specialized functions that require Windows applications, such as their accounting system or graphics programs from Adobe.
They do strive for a completely browser-based, open source system but there are lingering hurdles around the use of proprietary software by a few of the staff. This journey is still evolving as they continue to make use of consultants with whom they have a long history of working, along with members of staff who have a strong interest in IT and open source software in particular.
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