Why this German state is banning Microsoft Teams and other tools from its government operations

The German state of Schleswig-Holstein is set to ban Microsoft Teams and other software programs developed by the tech giant from its government operations, a report claims. This change will reportedly affect nearly all civil servants, police officers and judges within less than three months. With this move, it wants to “take back control” over data storage and ensure “digital sovereignty,” Dirk Schroedter, the German state’s digitalisation minister, said to the news agency AFP. While speaking on a video call via an open-source German program, Schroedter said, “We're done with (Microsoft) Teams.” The report adds that this switch-over will impact about half of Schleswig-Holstein's 60,000 public servants, with nearly 30,000 teachers expected to follow in the coming years.

How the German state is moving away from Microsoft tools

According to the report, the state's transition to open-source software began in 2024. The initial phase involves replacing Microsoft Word and Excel with LibreOffice, similarly switching Outlook for emails and calendars with Open-Xchange. Over the coming years, a Linux-based operating system is also planned to be adopted to complete the shift away from Microsoft Windows.“The geopolitical developments of the past few months have strengthened interest in the path that we've taken,” Schroedter said, noting that he had received requests for advice from around the globe

“The war in Ukraine revealed our energy dependencies, and now we see there are also digital dependencies,” he added.Schroedter highlighted that the Schleswig-Holstein government intends to move its data storage to a cloud platform outside Microsoft’s control.He said the state prefers to use publicly owned German digital infrastructure instead of relying on an American provider, the report continued.This comes after concerns about the influence of major American tech firms in Europe. Microsoft is also facing scrutiny over its market dominance, stemming from its control of the Windows operating system and the widely used Office suite in the EU. In 2023, the European Union opened an antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s practice of bundling Teams with its other business applications.