Sovereign collaboration for your team
Familiar functionality, but 100% data control
Repeated price hikes, unclear GDPR compliance, and complete dependence on a single vendor: more and more small and medium-sized businesses are looking at alternatives to the ecosystem of the large US providers. The challenge is finding a platform that guarantees data sovereignty without forcing employees to give up familiar functionality and efficient collaboration.
With suite:u, UPONU offers a fully-fledged groupware alternative for SMBs. Functional parity with existing solutions such as Microsoft 365, paired with 100% data control.
suite:u is built on "openDesk", an initiative of the Center for Digital Sovereignty of Public Administration (ZenDiS). It intelligently combines globally proven, high-performance open-source components into a central platform. The result is an enterprise-ready alternative that meets US solutions on an equal functional footing – developed with a clear focus on the requirements of the private sector and public authorities.
All services are bundled through a central Identity & Access Management (SSO) to make everyday work as seamless as possible.
- Central document management: suite:u Files enables central document management and simultaneous real-time editing of complex Office documents in the browser, completely without version chaos.
- Video conferencing and chat: suite:u chat and suite:u meet secure synchronous communication through end-to-end encrypted video conferencing and agile channel structures.
- User management and organization: The integrated mail and calendar function bundles external communication and company-wide resource planning.
Ensuring data protection in everyday operations and optimizing TCO Are standard cloud solutions really GDPR-compliant? The Data Protection Conference (DSK) is often massively critical of their use. Companies operate in a permanent grey area, especially regarding the outflow of diagnostic and telemetry data.
Besides compliance, the financial risk of vendor lock-in is a major driver for switching. Anyone who has deeply embedded their processes in proprietary solutions must accept regular license price increases and is often forced into expensive premium tiers (such as E5) just to meet basic security compliance. Switching to a transparent open-source strategy ensures predictable and transparent TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).
For companies with the highest security requirements in business communication (law firms, industry, healthcare, energy suppliers and utilities), mail:u is the decisive extension. It closes critical gaps in external communication at the gateway level:
- No certificates required on end devices: mail:u provides automated S/MIME and PGP encryption directly at the gateway. Key management requires no error-prone installation of certificates on employees' end devices.
- Centralized signature and footer management: Company-wide, central control of legally compliant email signatures, mandatory disclosures (disclaimers) and temporary marketing banners via Active Directory / LDAP synchronization.
- Send large files directly by email: Send and receive large files to external partners – GDPR-compliant, password-protected and as a direct, auditable replacement for uncontrolled share links.
If you ask system integrators where data is stored, the answer is often: hyperscalers at German locations. But if the operator is a US company (or a subsidiary), mere location ("data residency") does not protect against the legal effects of the US Cloud Act.
The strongest lever for your data security is genuinely sovereign infrastructure: suite:u runs exclusively on hardware we control in German data centers. No hyperscalers, no hidden data flows, no compromises. UPONU retains full legal and physical control over the entire value chain.
You can obtain suite:u as a flexible Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering that scales and is ready to use immediately.
For complex compliance requirements, we also offer operation in a dedicated infra:u Private Cloud Stack alongside our infra:u Public Cloud Stack. You benefit from a tailor-made managed platform with guaranteed, transparent SLAs. Your environment is strictly separated logically and physically from other tenants, meeting the highest information security requirements (ISO 27001, NIS-2 and KRITIS) and protecting your existing on-prem hardware investments.
Digital sovereignty does not mean teams have to sacrifice efficiency. suite:u does not deliver isolated tools, but a deeply integrated architecture that can seamlessly replace existing system landscapes.
Why look for an alternative?
Are US cloud solutions GDPR-compliant? The Data Protection Conference (DSK) views their use in the standard configuration as massively critical. Companies operate in a permanent grey area, especially regarding the outflow of diagnostic and telemetry data to the US. Since the Schrems II ruling, Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) no longer offer reliable protection against access by US authorities (FISA, Cloud Act).
In addition, there is the massive financial risk of vendor lock-in. Once processes are anchored in solutions like Teams and SharePoint, companies must accept regular license price increases and are often forced by providers into expensive premium tiers (such as E5) just to meet basic security compliance. Switching to a transparent open-source strategy shifts the focus to measurable TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) instead of uncontrollable OpEx costs.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Groupware is a software solution that organizes digital collaboration within companies. It bundles central tools such as email, calendar, contact management, chat, video conferencing and shared document editing into a single, connected platform that all employees can access securely.
Yes. suite:u enables native opening, collaborative editing and saving of common Microsoft formats without conversion loss through the integrated Office modules.
Office 365 was renamed Microsoft 365 in 2020, and as groupware it now often also includes extended security and device management tools.
Yes, when you look closely at TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). While hosting and operating costs do apply, these are reliably plannable and transparent as platform costs, whereas proprietary suites often become significantly more expensive in the long run due to unannounced license price increases and forced premium upgrades.
Do you have more questions? Contact us