Transitioning an organization from proprietary office suites like Microsoft Office to free and open source alternatives like IBM Lotus Symphony requires planning and preparation to manage costs and risks. Key steps include defining the user community, understanding existing content and applications, evaluating the free software against business requirements, and creating a deployment plan incorporating education, support, and content conversion. Proper initiation, cross-functional team formation, executive sponsorship, and communications are also important to the success of the project.