Skip to content
MEEQIT AB

Open-source Alternatives to Microsoft 365

In a time when organisations are concerned about dependencies on American cloud providers for geopolitical reasons, we offer expertise in evaluating and implementing open-source alternatives to Microsoft 365.

We have experimented with various alternatives in test environments and can help you understand both the opportunities and challenges. We are looking for customers willing to take experiments further into PoC and pilot projects.

Areas We Explore

Section titled “Areas We Explore”

MDM and Endpoint Management

Section titled “MDM and Endpoint Management”
  • FleetDM - Open-source MDM solution

Identity and Access Management (IAM), SSO, and Federation

Section titled “Identity and Access Management (IAM), SSO, and Federation”
  • Keycloak - Open-source IAM with support for SSO and federation

Calendar, Contacts, and Email

Section titled “Calendar, Contacts, and Email”
  • Mailu - A lightweight mail server solution

Chat and Video Meetings

Section titled “Chat and Video Meetings”
  • Matrix + Element + Jitsi Meet - Decentralized communication and video meetings

Document Collaboration

Section titled “Document Collaboration”
  • OnlyOffice Docs - Open-source alternative to Office Online

File Storage, Sharing, and Collaboration

Section titled “File Storage, Sharing, and Collaboration”
  • Nextcloud - Own control over file storage and more
  • OpenCloud - Alternative to OneDrive

Project Management and Collaboration

Section titled “Project Management and Collaboration”
  • Plane - Modern alternative to Jira

Workflows and Automation

Section titled “Workflows and Automation”
  • n8n - Open-source automation platform

Geopolitical Considerations

Section titled “Geopolitical Considerations”

The current geopolitical situation has made many European organizations aware of the risks of:

  • Becoming dependent on American cloud services
  • Having data stored on American servers
  • Being exposed to American data requests or sanctions
  • Service shutdowns

Open-source solutions can offer:

  • Data Protection - Data stored in your own data center
  • Sovereignty - Control over your IT environment
  • Transparency - Ability to audit the code
  • Freedom - Not tied to a single vendor

Challenges to Be Aware Of

Section titled “Challenges to Be Aware Of”
  • Implementation and Maintenance - Often requires more IT knowledge than SaaS solutions
  • Integration - May require customization work
  • Support - Community-driven support, not commercial support from vendor
  • Migration - Moving away from Microsoft 365 can be complex
  • Security - Supply-chain risks can be extensive

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”

Interested in exploring open-source alternatives? Contact us to discuss your needs and constraints. We can help you:

  • Conduct an initial analysis of your possibilities
  • Set up a test environment
  • Evaluate the best options for your organization
  • Plan a potential migration

Completely leaving Microsoft 365 is, honestly, not something we at MEEQIT see as realistic for most organisations — but for the few that genuinely include in their risk assessment the possibility that the American administration could order a service shutdown affecting them, it may be worth having a Plan B. We are happy to help explore that continuity plan.