The collaboration software Next Cloud it's recently become a Cooperation with Deutsche Telekom entered into in order to create a DSGVO compliant hosting to be able to offer. In order to be able to win more customers from the public sector in the future, the company has now, according to a Press release together with Univention and Open-Xchange the "Sovereign Productivity Suite", a software solution for public authorities. The companies involved have concluded partnership agreements for this purpose, which jointly enable the operation and development of the comprehensive software suite.
This is the first time three German open source companies have joined forces in this way, and what we are doing is hugely powerful. By offering a complete software suite that combines the best solutions on the market and is specifically tailored to the needs of the public sector, we are offering a real alternative to hyperscalers - and one that is developed in Germany and based on open source.
Andreas Gauger, CEO of Open-Xchange
The Sovereign Productivity Suite (SPS) is a user portal that includes email, calendar, video conferencing, chat, an app center, contacts and tasks, a User administration and online file synchronization and sharing. Software from the project partners is used for this, which is already used as a stand-alone solution in many German public authorities, including the groupware and e-mail solution from Open-Xchange, the file sharing and collaboration platform Nextcloud. The Linux distributor Univention has also had special offerings for the public education sector and public authorities in its portfolio for years.
Digital sovereignty is the basis for taking control and innovating in the digital world, and thus crucial for a self-determined future. A key element for this is open source software.
Peter Ganten, CEO of Univention
The SPS marketed jointly by the companies is to be used either as an on-premise solution or as a cloud solution via other partners. To ensure data protection, only servers hosted in the European Union (EU) will be used. Customers with their own data center could thus operate SPS on-site, while smaller customers could realize a rapid product launch via the cloud. It is not yet known which cloud hosters will be involved as partners in SPS. It would also be conceivable to integrate it into the European Cloud Initiative Gaia-X.
The need for a corresponding solution is shown, among other things, by the voices of the Ministry of the Interior and the federal states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, which emphasize the high dependence on Microsoft and therefore want to switch to an open source alternative.
There is a widespread need for a reliable office productivity platform in the German public sector. The burden of buying components from multiple vendors is slowing the adoption of secure and compliant on-premise collaboration software. A complete solution from market-leading vendors will support the transition to sustainable, open source-based technology that helps Europe protect its digital sovereignty.
Frank Karlitschek, CEO Nextcloud
