A study for Digitale Verwaltung Schweiz (DVS), conducted by Eraneos, reportedly estimates that replacing Microsoft 365 in the administrations it examined could take 4–8 years and cost 7–8 times an administration’s annual Microsoft 365 budget as a one-time transformation. Netzwoche reported those findings on October 29, 2026. The figures are tied to two example administrations, not a single nationwide migration plan.
What the study estimates for two administrations
Netzwoche reported that researchers held structured discussions with stakeholders at two administrations using Microsoft 365, one with 6,000 employees and one with 1,500. Five more administrations completed a shorter questionnaire. The study examined openDesk, developed by Germany’s Zentrum für Digitale Souveränität (Zendis), as one possible alternative.
For the two examples, the reported one-time estimates were:
| Example administration | Employees | Estimated one-time transformation cost |
| Larger | 6,000 | CHF 25–30 million |
| Medium-sized | 1,500 | At least CHF 9 million |
The reported study estimate also puts implementation at 4–8 years. It does not recommend that administrations switch or stay with Microsoft 365; its stated purpose is to inform their decisions.
What the cost estimate includes
The reported estimate covers adapting specialist applications and data, staff training and adoption, and external consulting and validation. It excludes the cost of running systems in parallel during the transition and productivity losses after formal training. Depending on the migration, security and compliance, identity and access management, and software distribution can add further costs. The study’s authors said actual costs could be significantly higher in individual cases.
The study reportedly estimates 4–5 workdays per employee for training and transition if an administration comprehensively replaces the functions it currently uses. Employees may also take longer to regain familiar routines after training, adding productivity effects beyond those workdays.
Why replacement means more than changing applications
The assessment describes Microsoft 365 as part of an established ecosystem that shapes technical architecture, operations, responsibilities, support and everyday work. Replacing it therefore involves organizational coordination as well as software and data migration.
The study reportedly expects ongoing costs for an alternative to be similar to Microsoft 365’s. License savings would largely be offset by a separate security stack and increased integration and coordination work. Netzwoche also reported gaps across alternative offerings in security and compliance, business intelligence, low-code tools and automation, mobile-device management, and fully integrated AI. Those categories describe the broader alternatives covered in the report, not a list of shortcomings established for openDesk alone.
What was separately reported about openDesk
MuyComputerPRO reported that an earlier openDesk proof of concept involved about 200 federal employees. Feedback on basic office work and email was positive, while large-scale video conferencing had technical limitations. The outlet separately reported a target of 3,000 workstations by the end of 2027 and a possible expansion to 54,000 federal-administration workstations if the pilot succeeds. These are reported pilot plans, distinct from the DVS study’s cost estimates.
MuyComputerPRO also tied the federal program to EMBAG, approved in 2024, which it said requires federal bodies to use open-source software where possible.
Netzwoche reported that the DVS study considered a complete short-term replacement unrealistic under current conditions without willingness to accept additional costs, substantial staff growth and significant functional setbacks or gaps. It made no recommendation for or against switching, instead framing the work as support for each administration’s assessment, including consideration of gradual paths.
