Leading Open-Source software companies sign agreement to build industry first
Three of the biggest names in Open-Source software, Nextcloud, Open-Xchange and Univention, have signed a partnership agreement to join forces to develop and offer a complete suite of software specifically for the public sector – the Sovereign Productivity Suite (SPS).
Combining products already proven in the market with more than 100 million users, SPS will integrate best of breed Open-Source software from each of the partners. The suite will include an online user portal for easy access to mail, calendar, contacts and tasks, along with online file sync and share, video conferencing and chat, user management features, and an Appstore.
It will deliver a cost-effective solution that can be deployed rapidly either directly, as an on- premise solution, or through partners, as part of a standard European hosted cloud stack. This will give customers and cloud partners the flexibility to run SPS in their own data centers, or benefit from an even faster time to market by choosing to roll out SPS through a cloud partner.
With public sector users in mind, the design philosophy behind SPS is to deliver an intuitive and easy to use productivity suite with best of breed applications.
The advantage of this approach is that customers who want an Open-Source solution will no longer have to combine different packages themselves. Instead, they will be able to reduce costs and complexity with a single solution specifically designed for their needs, under one contract and with unified support.
Frank Karlitschek, CEO at Nextcloud, said: “There is a widespread need for a reliable office productivity platform in the public sector in Germany. The complexity of buying pieces from multiple vendors slows down adoption of more secure and compliant on-premise collaboration software. A complete solution from the market leading vendors will aid the transition to sustainable, Open-Source technology that helps Europe protect its digital sovereignty.”
Andreas Gauger, CEO at Open-Xchange said: “This is the very first time three German Open-Source companies have come together in this way, and what we’re doing is enormously powerful. By offering a complete suite of software that brings together the best solutions in the market and is specifically designed for the needs of the public sector, we’re going to offer a real alternative to the hyperscale players – and one that’s built in Germany, based on Open-Source.”
Peter Ganten, CEO at Univention, said: “Digital sovereignty is the basis of taking control and to innovating in the digital world, and therefore vital for a self-determined future. A key element of this is Open-Source software. The fact that three of the most important Open-Source companies are going to be working together to ensure that their products complement and build on each other’s perfectly is fantastic news. With this, we will ensure that Open-Source, especially in the area of workplace productivity for the public sector, will be much simpler to implement and more standardized in the future.”