Swiss Federal Government is ditching Microsoft on thousands of devices to switch to open source

Date:
Tue, 08 Sep 2026 14:15:00 +0000

Description:
After a successful test by 172 workers, Switzerland's federal government is piloting 3,000 devices on open source software.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter 3,000 Swiss government devices will use open source software instead of Microsoft 365 172 workers already tested Germany's openDesk software in an earlier proof-of-concept The next stage should be complete by the end of 2027, at the cost of $11.1 million Switzerland's federal government has launched a pilot program to explore the feasibility of ditching Microsoft 365 in favour of open source alternatives, and it's starting with 3,000 machines of the government's estimated 54,000 total computers.

The government is looking to move around 7% of its machines away from M365 by the end of 2027, the chancellery confirmed , but it's not the first time the Swiss government has explored open-source alternatives. An earlier proof-of-concept, the details of which have just been released, demonstrate 172 federal employees testing German-made openDesk for document processing
and emailing. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: Switzerland is progressing with its open-source plans Crucially, the government doesn't look to be removing M365 outright from all 3,000 machines, but rather,
workers will be given openDesk to run in parallel in order to avoid any disruptions.

Central to the migration isn't necessarily an anti-Microsoft initiative, but rather a pro-digital sovereignty push. Switzerland wants critical government operations to be less dependent on foreign tech companies, especially US tech giants given ongoing geopolitical tensions. You may like Stop calling it a hobby and start treating it as infrastructure: EXANTE calls out the underfunding of widely used open source projects Why open source AI is worth fighting for LibreOffice slams rival Euro-Office as a 'de facto ally' of Microsoft lock-in as concerns over possible Russian interference rise

US cloud legislation potentially allows American authorities to gain access
to Swiss government information, and with Microsoft being an American firm, its 365 platform is naturally under assessment.

More broadly, Switzerland isn't the only country to be walking away from Microsoft and other US tech vendors in favor of local, open source alternatives. France and Germany have also introduced similar schemes. Are
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Microsoft is already working on a solution to pacify Swiss sovereignty requirements - in 2025, it announced a $400 million investment in Switzerland to expand its cloud and AI infrastructure, with a major focus on government, finance and healthcare customers.

The ongoing project covering 3,000 devices is expected to cost $11.1 million, per the chancellery, with funding coming from pro-sovereignty initiatives. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/swiss-federal-government-is-ditching-microsoft-o n-thousands-of-devices-to-switch-to-open-source


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