Switzerland's federal government has launched a pilot program to replace Microsoft 365 with open source alternatives across 3,000 workstations. This represents approximately 7% of the federal workforce, with the goal of completing the migration by the end of 2027.
This initiative follows a successful proof-of-concept and the implementation of a new digital sovereignty law. A separate, accelerated migration for the military is also already in progress.
The great migration goes into the pilot phase
The Federal Chancellery is allocating CHF 9 million towards an open-source workplace rollout for 3,000 federal employees.
On September 3, 2026, the Federal Council released the findings of "PoC BOSS," a feasibility study involving 172 federal employees who tested the openDesk suite, a German open-source collaboration platform.
During the proof-of-concept, core office tasks such as document processing and email were positively evaluated, although large-scale video conferencing still presented technical challenges.
Building on the 'success' of the PoC phase with 172 participants, the pilot program is now being rolled out to 3,000 employees.
It's important to note that during this pilot phase, the new system will operate in parallel with Microsoft 365, rather than replacing it immediately. This gradual approach to migration is generally advisable.
If the pilot proves successful, it is anticipated that the migration will extend to all 54,000 workstations used by federal administrations.
Why?
According to Matthias Stürmer, a professor at the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH), Microsoft's dominance in public institutions presents three key issues driving this migration:
First is the risk of foreign access. US cloud legislation could potentially expose Swiss government data to foreign authorities.
Second is the risk to service continuity, as reliance on a single foreign vendor introduces operational vulnerabilities.
The third concern is the escalating cost of proprietary licensing fees, which are increasing without any leverage for Switzerland.
Swiss Army is already moving faster
Switzerland's military cybersecurity unit, Cyber Command, is not waiting for the civilian pilot. It is already poised to fully replace Microsoft 365 with openDesk by October 2026.
The reasons are largely the same: the military aims to prevent foreign governments from accessing sensitive Swiss data.
Part of a bigger plan
In 2024, the EMBAG Law took effect. This law mandates that all Swiss federal agencies must publish government-developed software as open source by default. The law also seeks to foster digital sovereignty and encourage innovation and collaboration within the public sector.
Subsequently, in December 2025, the Federal Council identified digital sovereignty as a key focus area. Digital sovereignty is defined as "the federal government being able to fulfil its essential mission without depending on an external supplier or country."
This essentially means reducing reliance on major US tech companies.
Neighboring countries like France and Germany have also been pursuing similar initiatives. The success of this major Swiss migration could serve as an example for other countries looking to accelerate their own transitions away from Microsoft.
Notably, Microsoft is also investing heavily, with plans to expand its AI and cloud infrastructure in Switzerland by over CHF 325 million, partly to address sovereignty concerns.
Future developments will be interesting to observe, but the current trajectory appears positive for open-source advocates.
