Open Standards: The Clause That Protects Us When the Sales Team Changes
Sales promises evaporate; Open Standards endure. Why we rely on international formats like ODF and SQL, not the 'goodwill' of a vendor account manager.
The Handshake Expires; The Protocol Remains
“But we have a great relationship!” the Director of Education argued. “They promised to support our legacy data forever.”
“Is that promise in the code?” I asked. “Or is it in an email from a man named Stefan who might leave for a competitor next week?”
Two months later, Stefan left. The new representative, sent from the corporate headquarters in a foreign jurisdiction, informed us that “Legacy Support” was now a premium add-on costing 20% of the annual contract value.
The Director was shocked. I was not.
The Dependency: The Cult of Personality
In municipal IT, we often fall into the trap of trusting people rather than protocols. We believe that because the sales team is nice, the corporation is benevolent.
But a corporation is an entity designed to extract profit. Personnel changes are inevitable. When the “nice” team is replaced by the “extraction” team, any agreement not codified in Open Standards becomes a vulnerability.
If our documents are stored in a proprietary format that only their software can read, the new sales team knows they have leverage. They can raise prices, deprecate features, or change terms, knowing we cannot leave because we cannot read our own files without their decoder ring.
The Sovereign Choice: The Standard is the Law
We have stopped negotiating on “features” and started negotiating on Grammar.
We enforce a strict Open Standards Policy based on the European Interoperability Framework (EIF).
- Document Formats: We use ODF (Open Document Format) or PDF/A for archiving. We do not use formats that change with every version of the software.
- Data Exchange: We mandate JSON or XML for APIs. We do not accept “custom binary blobs.”
- Identity: We use OIDC (OpenID Connect). We do not use proprietary login systems that turn our Citizens into their users.
When we use Open Standards, it does not matter if the vendor is friendly or hostile. It does not matter if they go bankrupt or are acquired by a foreign equity firm.
The data speaks a universal language. We can take our ODF files and open them in a different tool tomorrow. That is not just technical flexibility; that is political independence.
FAQs
What is an Open Standard?
It is a format (like .odt, .json, .sql) that is fully documented and free for anyone to implement. It belongs to the public, not a corporation.
Why do vendors hate them?
Because standards destroy their monopoly. If everyone speaks the same language, you can change who you talk to.
Does this limit innovation?
No. It directs innovation. Vendors compete on who builds the best editor, not who owns the alphabet.