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Schleswig-Holstein's Migration of Productivity Software (Dumping Microsoft) Progresses
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Heise ☛ Schleswig-Holstein's e-mail systems converted to open source
The Schleswig-Holstein state administration has taken an important step towards digital sovereignty: After a six-month conversion process, the Ministry of Digital Affairs successfully completed the migration of the state administration's entire email system from Microsoft Exchange and Outlook to the open source solutions Open-Xchange and Thunderbird at the beginning of October.
The digital department speaks of a milestone after a tour de force that involved the migration of over 40,000 mailboxes with a total of well over 100 million emails and calendar entries. From the State Chancellery and ministries to the judiciary and state police to other state authorities – Around 30,000 employees have now arrived in the world of free software.
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Nick Heer ☛ German State Completes Migration Away From Microsoft Exchange and Outlook
Alternatives like these might not be a good fit for some organizations, and I can imagine the expense and effort of a migration would dissuade many from even attempting it. But it is good that more organizations are exploring alternatives as we should not be dependent on a small number of vendors for our technology needs — especially governments. Open source probably makes the most sense in the public sector.