As France and China ditch Microsoft, Switzerland joins in by slowly shifting from Microsoft 365

Over the past year, we’ve seen countries around the world ease themselves off Microsoft’s software. Back in April, we saw France ditch Windows for Linux, and around a month ago, we heard reports that China was moving forward with its own homegrown Linux distros. Now, Switzerland has started a trial that will see 3,000 government computers use open-source solutions alongside Microsoft 365 to see if it’s feasible to jump ship.

Switzerland begins its move toward ditching Microsoft 365

It’s not quite ready to pull the trigger just yet

As spotted by Neowin, Switzerland has already tested the waters with open-source software. It conducted a successful trial where 172 government employees used openDesk, an open-source alternative to Microsoft 365 that originated in Germany, to see if it would suit their needs best. While the initial trial found large-scale video calls trickier than using Teams, they had no issues organising documents or sending emails.

As a result, Switzerland is now rolling out the trial to 3,000 government PCs, starting from the positions with the most sensitive data. Switzerland can’t quite afford to scrap Microsoft 365 just yet, so the proprietary software will run alongside openDesk while the employees figure out the new system. However, if this trial is successful, it’s expected that Switzerland will move all of its 54,000 government PCs to the open-source software.

So, why are countries outside of the US trying to wean off Microsoft’s software? Well, as Matthias Stürmer, a professor at the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH), said to RTS, it’s all about digital sovereignty:

“First, data protection: we know that foreign governments can access this data. Next, access to data: whether it remains available at all times. And finally, costs: licensing fees are soaring every year.”

As time goes on, it will be interesting to see which countries adopt open-source software and which will keep using Microsoft’s products. Regardless, it seems the Redmond giant’s digital reign over the EU is coming to an end.

Related