Switzerland is investing 9 million Swiss francs, approximately $11.1 million, in an open-source alternative to Microsoft 365.
The project will introduce openDesk across 3,000 federal workstations by the end of 2027. These computers represent around 7% of the 54,000 machines used throughout the Swiss federal administration.
The migration follows a proof of concept involving 172 federal employees. Participants tested whether an open-source workplace could handle everyday tasks currently performed through Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel and other Microsoft 365 services.
The results were promising enough for the Swiss Federal Council to approve a much larger rollout.
Microsoft 365 will continue operating alongside openDesk during the pilot. This gives employees access to their existing tools while the government tests the new platform under real working conditions.
The wider goal is digital sovereignty: giving Switzerland greater control over the software, infrastructure and data used to run its public administration.
What Switzerland is moving to
The platform selected for the pilot is called openDesk.
It was developed for public-sector organisations by the German Centre for Digital Sovereignty, known as ZenDiS. Instead of attempting to reproduce the complete Microsoft 365 platform through one enormous application, openDesk brings several established open-source projects together into an integrated workplace.
Its components include:
Collabora Online for documents, spreadsheets and presentations
Open-Xchange for email, calendars and contacts
Nextcloud for file storage, synchronisation and sharing
Element and Matrix for messaging and direct calls
Jitsi for video conferences
OpenProject for project management
XWiki for documentation and knowledge management
CryptPad for collaborative diagrams
Nubus for identity and access management
Employees access these services through a common portal with centralised authentication.
This gives government organisations a complete collaboration environment while preserving the ability to operate the software on infrastructure they control.
The first test involved 172 employees
Switzerland began with a smaller proof-of-concept project known as PoC BOSS.
A group of 172 federal employees used openDesk for common office tasks, including email, document processing and collaboration. The trial examined whether the platform could support daily government work and provide a practical alternative to Microsoft’s cloud services.
Document editing and email received positive assessments.
Large video conferences still presented technical limitations. Microsoft Teams has benefited from years of development and deployment across large organisations, so matching its performance and integration will require additional work.
The federal government still considered the overall trial successful.
The next phase expands the test from 172 people to 3,000 workstations, creating a much better picture of how openDesk performs at scale.
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Why spend $11 million on open-source software?
Open-source software can be downloaded without paying a traditional proprietary licence, but a government migration still requires substantial investment.
Switzerland must deploy and operate the infrastructure, integrate it with existing systems, migrate accounts and data, configure identity management, train employees, provide technical support and maintain the environment.
Documents and workflows developed around Microsoft formats also need to remain usable. Macros, templates, calendars, shared mailboxes and business processes can create compatibility problems long after the applications themselves have been installed.
The 9 million Swiss franc budget supports this transition.
Software freedom gives the government more control over the platform. Achieving that control requires engineers, infrastructure, testing and long-term maintenance.
The project’s success will depend on whether openDesk can become a dependable working environment for thousands of employees.
Digital sovereignty is driving the migration
Governments increasingly depend on a small group of foreign technology companies for email, documents, communication, identity management and cloud storage.
This concentration creates a strategic concern.
When a public institution moves its work into a proprietary cloud platform, the provider controls important parts of the underlying technology. The institution must follow the vendor’s product changes, licensing conditions, pricing decisions and technical roadmap.
The provider may also fall under laws from another country.
Microsoft is based in the United States and is subject to American legislation, including the CLOUD Act. Under certain legal processes, US authorities can require American companies to provide access to data under their control, including some information stored in overseas data centres.
Keeping data inside Switzerland can address its physical location. Control over the provider and encryption keys determines who may ultimately gain access to it.
Swiss data-protection authorities have previously warned public bodies about using international cloud services for highly sensitive information when the provider can access the data or its encryption keys.
An independently operated open-source platform gives the government more control over where information is stored, who operates the infrastructure and how the software handles that information.
Open source gives Switzerland more options
Access to source code allows an organisation to inspect software, adapt it and choose who provides technical support.
It also makes switching infrastructure providers more practical.
A government using openDesk could operate it internally, contract a Swiss provider or move it between compatible hosting environments. The availability of the software’s code and deployment architecture creates more room to make those choices.
OpenDesk also uses widely deployed projects such as Nextcloud, Collabora, Matrix and Jitsi. Switzerland can benefit from their existing communities while contributing improvements that other public institutions may reuse.
This can turn government technology spending into shared digital infrastructure.
When several European governments need secure document collaboration, messaging and file storage, they can cooperate around common open-source components instead of purchasing separate proprietary platforms indefinitely.
The migration will be gradual
Replacing office software across a government requires more than installing different applications.
Employees build years of habits around familiar menus, shortcuts and workflows. Departments may depend on complex spreadsheets, Microsoft-specific document formatting, Outlook integrations and automated processes written for the existing environment.
External organisations may also continue sending Microsoft Office documents that must open and render correctly.
Switzerland’s parallel deployment allows employees to test openDesk without immediately losing access to Microsoft 365. Administrators can identify incompatibilities, improve training and determine which departments are suitable for migration.
By the end of 2027, the government should have enough information to decide whether the platform can expand beyond the initial 3,000 computers.
A successful pilot could eventually influence the remaining federal workstations.
Switzerland’s military is moving faster
The Swiss military is conducting a separate migration on a faster schedule.
Its Cyber Command is expected to move away from Microsoft 365 collaboration services and complete its transition to openDesk by October 2026.
Military communications and operational information carry particularly strict sovereignty requirements. Control over infrastructure, software updates and data access becomes an essential security consideration in that environment.
The military migration will provide another large-scale test of openDesk and may reveal lessons that help the civilian federal administration.
Europe is building alternatives to foreign cloud platforms
Switzerland’s project forms part of a wider European movement toward digital sovereignty.
Germany created ZenDiS to help public authorities adopt open-source software and reduce their dependence on individual vendors. The organisation now develops and coordinates openDesk as a reusable workplace for government institutions.
France has also invested in domestic and open-source collaboration tools. The European Union continues to examine how critical public infrastructure can remain under European legal and operational control.
These projects reflect a growing understanding that office software has become part of national infrastructure.
Government employees use these platforms to exchange documents, discuss policies, schedule meetings and store institutional knowledge. Losing access to them, facing sudden licensing changes or depending on decisions made by a foreign provider can affect the operation of the state.
Open-source platforms provide another path, particularly when governments cooperate on their development and maintenance.
The pilot will reveal the real cost of independence
The $11 million investment will attract attention because open-source software is often described as free.
The more useful question is what Switzerland receives from that investment.
The government is paying to develop the skills, infrastructure and operational capacity required to control its own digital workplace. It is also creating leverage by proving that another platform can perform at least part of the work currently handled by Microsoft 365.
Even a partial migration can reduce dependency and strengthen the government’s position when negotiating future cloud and software contracts.
The pilot will also reveal where openDesk still needs improvement. Video conferencing, document compatibility, user training and integration with existing systems are likely to determine how far the migration can expand.
By the end of 2027, Switzerland should know whether openDesk can support a much larger portion of its federal workforce.
The most important result may extend beyond the number of computers migrated. Switzerland is investing in the ability to choose how its public administration operates, where its data lives and which organisations control the tools behind it.
That ability is becoming a central part of digital sovereignty.
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