Microsoft Cloud vs. Delos vs. openDesk: The Office Plans of the Federal States

Summary

Under the banner of "digital sovereignty," German politicians have been debating IT independence more intensively since the Trump presidency. Nevertheless, most federal states continue to rely on Microsoft Office and are even planning migrations to US-American cloud services. Only Schleswig-Holstein consistently pursues an Open-Source strategy. The shift to the Cloud significantly increases dependence on Microsoft and harbors risks through potential US sanctions.

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Detailed Summary

The discussion about digital sovereignty has gained significance in Germany since Donald Trump has been governing the US. The Digital Ministers Conference of the federal states made clear in November that digital sovereignty "is a fundamental prerequisite for the technological and economic competitiveness and security of Germany and Europe."

However, a survey by the trade journal c't among state governments reveals a contradictory picture: While sovereignty is being promoted, most federal states continue to rely on the US-American provider Microsoft for their office software. Only Schleswig-Holstein stands out with a consistent Open-Source strategy.

The development in large federal states such as Bavaria, Lower Saxony, and North Rhine-Westphalia is particularly noteworthy. These states are planning or already executing a migration from self-managed Microsoft systems (on-premise solutions) to cloud services in the data centers of the US corporation. The states justify this by stating that Microsoft will only offer its office packages as a cloud service in the medium term anyway.

The shift to the Cloud, however, significantly increases dependence on Microsoft. Authorities become not only dependent on regular security updates from Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, but must also trust that the corporation will not unexpectedly interrupt its services—for instance due to US sanctions. Such an interruption could deprive authorities of their email and video conferencing capabilities in an instant.

This development stands in tension with European and German data protection goals as well as the proclaimed strategy of digital sovereignty.

Key Statements

• Despite strengthened rhetoric on "digital sovereignty," 15 of 16 federal states continue to rely on Microsoft Office
• Several large federal states are even migrating from self-managed systems to cloud solutions from the US corporation
• Schleswig-Holstein remains the exception with its consistent Open-Source strategy
• Cloud migration increases dependence and security risks through potential US sanctions
• Authorities argue with technological and economic constraints (future cloud-only strategy by Microsoft)

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