Life After Microsoft: Digital Sovereignty and Data Security at Our Law Firm

I am pleased to inform you that our law firm has successfully completed the migration of its IT systems from Microsoft platforms to our own servers and European open-source software solutions, including Nextcloud and Linux.

Why We Made the Change

The primary objective of this transition was to enhance the security of our clients’ data, including the personal data processed by the firm, while also strengthening the overall security of our IT infrastructure. At the same time, we wanted to achieve independence from Microsoft—a company whose ecosystem is often associated with so-called vendor lock-in, a practice that can make organizations heavily reliant on a single provider’s products and services.

For the past eight years, we relied on Microsoft technologies throughout the firm: Outlook for email, Office 365 for document editing (Word and Excel), SharePoint and OneDrive for file storage, cloud services, and access management, and Teams for internal communication as well as video and audio conferencing. We worked on laptops running either Windows or macOS.

Access to our data and its protection depended almost entirely on Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure, authentication mechanisms, and security safeguards. For a long time, this seemed like the best possible solution and an obvious choice.

Our decision to fundamentally redesign the technological foundation of the firm was prompted by increasingly concerning developments across the Atlantic, as well as by a growing awareness of certain aspects of U.S. law. The U.S. CLOUD Act grants American law enforcement authorities the power to require U.S.-based cloud service providers, such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, to disclose data stored on their servers—even when those servers are physically located within the European Union.

At the same time, the possibility of losing access to critical software services became a realistic concern. A decision by Microsoft to suspend access to its services could potentially affect everything from email and file access to communication through Teams. Likewise, a major Azure or Microsoft infrastructure outage could leave a law firm temporarily cut off from its data and communications.

For these reasons, our firm decided to stop relying on the services of American Big Tech providers. The transition was a complex undertaking that lasted more than six months.

The Migration Journey

After selecting Kooperatywa Sieciowa as our technology partner, the migration process began in late 2025. We started by developing a detailed implementation plan, whose execution commenced in January 2026. Over the following six months, our team and IT specialists invested considerable effort into deploying the new systems and extracting the firm’s data and email archives from Microsoft’s servers. The latter proved to be one of the most challenging aspects of the entire migration.

Retrieving data from Microsoft was a laborious process due to numerous technical barriers, the lack of clear instructions, and the difficulty of downloading large volumes of files from their infrastructure. Thanks to the commitment and persistence of both our team and the IT professionals involved, all data was successfully retrieved and secured.

How We Work Today

Today, the firm operates entirely on free and open-source software developed and maintained in Europe. All servers and workstations run Linux (TuxedoOS). For our day-to-day operations, we use Nextcloud, integrated with OnlyOffice as our document editing environment.

Installed on our local servers, Nextcloud provides all the tools we need within a single platform. It includes a file repository, email client, the Talk communication suite for internal and client chats and video conferencing, shared and personal calendars, an excellent project and task management solution (Deck), and numerous other applications that facilitate collaborative work. Nextcloud also functions seamlessly on mobile devices, which encouraged us to adopt de-Googled European smartphones running eOS and VollaOS, significantly enhancing user privacy.

The security of electronically processed data has improved substantially. We now operate several of our own servers. Access to the primary server is possible only from within the firm’s local network or through the NetBird VPN solution, meaning that it is not directly accessible from the public internet.

A separate externally accessible server handles the firm’s communication with clients. Another server manages synchronization between systems, while a dedicated backup server performs regular backups. In the event of a failure of the primary server, an auxiliary server can quickly assume the role of the main server until the issue has been resolved. All software is updated on a regular basis.

What We Have Gained

Adapting to the new environment and tailoring it to our specific needs took several months and required a significant organizational effort from everyone at the firm. The results, however, have exceeded our expectations. The new system is faster, easier to use, and offers far greater flexibility in terms of customization and functionality.

The firm is now the sole custodian of its data. We are no longer exposed to risks associated with outages affecting a global technology giant, unilateral software changes introduced without users’ input, potential data-sharing practices related to machine learning, or the consequences of possible economic or trade disputes involving the United States.

By moving away from a vendor-lock-in model, we have achieved genuine independence from any single provider. Our email infrastructure and public-facing servers can be migrated to other providers whenever necessary because they rely on open protocols and data structures that comply with industry standards.

The flexibility of free and open-source software also gives us the opportunity to expand functionality and develop entirely new solutions tailored to the needs of our law firm.

A Word of Encouragement

I am publishing this information not only to share our experience but also to bring a measure of hope and confidence to our European community. It is encouraging to see that the public conversation around European digital sovereignty is finally gaining momentum and that successful open-source implementations are becoming more common. At the same time, I often have the impression that many individuals and institutions remain hesitant to embrace open-source technologies. I understand these concerns, as such a transition requires determination and a willingness to challenge the widespread belief that there is no real alternative to Big Tech software.

Our law firm serves as proof that there is another way—and that life after Microsoft not only exists, but can be better.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Kooperatywa Sieciowa for their collaboration, support, and expertise throughout the implementation of these new solutions.

Emilia Barabasz, attorney-at-law