Replacing Microsoft is impossible, isn’t it?
Updated: Oct 29
“Microsoft can’t be replaced.” That is the most common first reaction in meetings where we present Replicant IT’s story and our mission to reduce four key risks and the dependency on global tech giants in IT. It illustrates perfectly how big our technology dependency problem is.
Let us say straight away that, although Replicant IT actively offers only European technology, in order to provide the best managed IT service on the market, we support our clients regardless of their technology choices. That includes managing Microsoft environments. Between us, we even use them a little ourselves.
Replacing Microsoft should not be an ideological decision.
It is about mitigating risk, cost-efficiency and independence. And switching does not make sense for everyone.
• How much independence does your company or organisation need?
• How much risk are you prepared to accept?
• How much more are you prepared to pay for convenience?
Four risks
Heavy dependency brings numerous risks. Here are four key risks to consider.
1. Financial risk
Dependency gives one party the upper hand. How much choice have you had recently over what you buy from a tech giant’s bundles? How much room has there been to negotiate on price? Unilateral control over pricing, and bundling services so that we are forced to consume more than we need: this is already a reality and drives up costs every year. Add the trade war and tariffs, and the picture becomes even darker.
2. Regulatory (and information security) risk
However prominently US tech giants label their services as ‘sovereign’, they remain subject to US jurisdiction, where regulations such as the CLOUD Act conflict with European regulations (e.g. GDPR). This puts our organisations in a grey area that will at some point come at a cost. There is also a significant risk to intellectual property and of our data being misused. Microsoft itself has admitted that it cannot protect its customers’ data from the US government.
3. Supply chain risk
Supply chain risk brings to mind the Ever Given, the ship that blocked the Suez Canal, and is perhaps more often associated with hardware. But with a highly vertically integrated vendor that has significant market power, supply chain risks are very real even for an entirely digital portfolio. The Amazon and Azure cloud outages of recent weeks illustrated this well.
4. Political risk
In the first half of the year, news broke that the Trump administration had sanctioned the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court after the ICC issued an arrest warrant the administration objected to, leaving the prosecutor without access to his Microsoft account. Tensions over Greenland have strained relations between Denmark and the US to the point where some opinion leaders consider technology dependency the greatest threat to national security. The two largest municipalities, Copenhagen and Aarhus, have decided to abandon Microsoft services entirely.
The risk of your company’s IT becoming a weapon in a diplomatic dispute is greater today than ever.
Alternatives exist
As the examples above show, alternatives to Microsoft services, especially classic M365, very much exist. In fact, they always have. At the level of individual applications, there are often even better alternatives. The problem lies rather in integrations and the ecosystem.
From a change management perspective, the biggest obstacle is the user experience. How do you feel about the idea of using OpenOffice Calc instead of Excel from now on?
“Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.” – Tony Robbins
The Danish municipality of Aarhus has started moving to Nextcloud solutions and, in addition to mitigating risk, expects cost savings of 3–4x. Nextcloud offers comparable alternatives to SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, OneNote, Forms and Outlook, as well as, of course, word processing, spreadsheet and presentation applications. The ecosystem also includes a wide range of tools for project management and identity management.
What sets Nextcloud apart?
Nextcloud is an open-source platform. Yes, in theory it can be used free of charge, but for business use that is risky. What matters is that Nextcloud can be self-hosted.
This means that Nextcloud can be:
How many organisations want to install, host and manage an M365-like ‘monster’ themselves? Some, certainly. But if that seems too big a task, IONOS and Nextcloud have recently launched a complete SaaS solution together. We are, of course, also happy to help you set up, host and manage your Nextcloud environment. Either way, you remain in control of your data.
Four possible scenarios
There are four possible scenarios for moving forward.
1. Stay on M365
Entirely understandable. If the risks and costs are acceptable for your company, we are happy to help you configure, manage and secure your M365 environment in line with best practice. Given the above, however, you might consider whether it makes sense to tie yourself in further by adding new services, or whether it would be wiser to look at alternatives, especially in cybersecurity.
2. A fallback option in your back pocket
Does your disaster recovery plan include a scenario in which M365 stops working, becomes prohibitively expensive or is banned by regulation? Perhaps you should be prepared for that eventuality, ready to move quickly to Nextcloud or other alternatives if needed: partner selected, accounts configured, base installation in place.
3. Hybrid: Microsoft + Sendent + Nextcloud
Together with its technology partner Sendent, Nextcloud lets you keep using Microsoft applications (Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, etc.) while storing files and data securely in your self-hosted Nextcloud. This way you keep an interface your users know, gain control over your data and reduce risk. In future, it is easy to move on from the hybrid solution to the full Nextcloud ecosystem, while also reducing costs.
4. Full replacement
If your company has highly complex business processes, has tied itself to Microsoft’s ERP and CRM, has built numerous integrations or has adopted Power BI and Sentinel SIEM, you need to approach this topic with care. A full switch is probably not realistic for you today: you are too tightly bound and have reached vendor lock-in nirvana. You will need to plan over a longer horizon to reduce your dependency. If, however, your business processes are simpler and document-based, and you use only Microsoft’s core M365 products, switching may be an entirely realistic option. If you are good at managing change, or have an experienced partner to help, the switch can be a significant win.
Key takeaways
Microsoft is not a monster that must be slain at all costs. It owes its monopoly position largely to good products and, above all, excellent integration. Switching is not for everyone, and it need not be done for ideological reasons.
We do, however, have to admit that we are far too dependent on it: globally, as a country, as companies and as individuals.
This brings risks that some may no longer be willing to accept.
If you would like to reduce your organisation’s risks and dependency, get in touch. We will help you work out whether, and how, to do it most sensibly.
