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Productivity without vendor lock-in

Corporate email, office suite, and cloud storage on your infrastructure. Zimbra + OnlyOffice + Nextcloud—deployed, secured, and managed by us.

Full data sovereignty. No per-user SaaS fees. Enterprise-grade collaboration.

On-request / scoped service

Self-hosted productivity suites are handled as scoped on-request work when they fit a broader infrastructure engagement.

Service playbook

From problem to operating evidence

Main content is structured like a case study: context first, scoped work next, then the operating changes and evidence a team can use after handoff.

Service briefThe problem with SaaS productivity suitesOur solutionZimbra — Corporate EmailOnlyOffice — Document Collaboration

A complete alternative to Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, built on proven open-source components. We deploy, secure, and manage the entire stack so you get enterprise productivity with full data control.

Case-study lens

Scoped

Problem, responsibility, and handoff boundaries before implementation.

Evidence

Dashboards, runbooks, reviews, and operating records over borrowed logos.

Outcomes

Conservative summaries focused on observable operational improvement.

EvidenceSection 01

The problem with SaaS productivity suites

Runbooks, dashboards, reviews, and handoff material make the work auditable.

  • Data sovereignty concerns — Your corporate data lives on someone else's servers, in jurisdictions you don't control
  • Per-user costs add up — $12-20/user/month becomes significant at scale
  • Vendor lock-in — Migrating away from Google or Microsoft is painful and expensive
  • Compliance complexity — Meeting data residency and industry regulations with SaaS is challenging
Operating modelSection 02

Our solution

Responsibilities, response paths, and technical changes are made explicit before work starts.

A self-hosted productivity suite that you own, deployed and managed by us.

What changes

Components

ComponentFunctionReplaces
ZimbraCorporate email, calendar, contactsGmail, Outlook
OnlyOfficeDocument editing and collaborationGoogle Docs, Microsoft 365
NextcloudFile storage and syncGoogle Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint
OutcomeSection 03

Zimbra — Corporate Email

Expected changes are framed as practical operating improvements, not unsupported guarantees.

Enterprise email platform trusted by over 200,000 businesses worldwide.

What changes

Email features

  • Custom domain email with unlimited aliases
  • Shared mailboxes and distribution lists
  • Advanced spam and malware filtering
  • Email archiving and eDiscovery
  • Mobile sync (ActiveSync, IMAP, POP3)

What changes

Calendar & contacts

  • Shared calendars with free/busy lookup
  • Resource booking (meeting rooms, equipment)
  • Contact management and global address book
  • CalDAV/CardDAV sync with desktop and mobile

What changes

Administration

  • Web-based admin console
  • User lifecycle management (provisioning, deprovisioning)
  • Delegated administration
  • LDAP/Active Directory integration
  • SAML SSO support
EvidenceSection 04

OnlyOffice — Document Collaboration

Runbooks, dashboards, reviews, and handoff material make the work auditable.

Full-featured office suite compatible with Microsoft Office formats.

What changes

Document editing

  • Documents — Word-compatible with track changes, comments, and real-time co-editing
  • Spreadsheets — Excel-compatible with formulas, charts, and pivot tables
  • Presentations — PowerPoint-compatible with animations and transitions
  • PDF — View, annotate, and fill PDF forms

What changes

Collaboration

  • Real-time co-editing with presence indicators
  • Comments and mentions
  • Version history and document comparison
  • Review and approval workflows

Implementation focus

Integration

  • Native integration with Nextcloud for seamless file access
  • Zimbra integration for email attachments
  • Desktop editors for Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • Mobile apps for iOS and Android
Operating modelSection 05

Nextcloud — File Storage

Responsibilities, response paths, and technical changes are made explicit before work starts.

Self-hosted cloud storage with enterprise features.

What changes

File management

  • Drag-and-drop file upload
  • Folder sharing with permissions
  • External storage connectors (S3, SMB, FTP)
  • File versioning and trash recovery

What changes

Sync clients

  • Desktop sync for Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • Mobile apps for iOS and Android
  • Selective sync and virtual files
  • Offline access

What changes

Collaboration

  • File and folder sharing (internal and external)
  • Password-protected and expiring links
  • Comments on files
  • Activity stream

What changes

Advanced features

  • Nextcloud Talk for chat and video calls
  • Nextcloud Groupware for calendar and contacts
  • Deck for project management
  • Forms for surveys and data collection
OutcomeSection 06

Deployment options

Expected changes are framed as practical operating improvements, not unsupported guarantees.

Engagement option

Managed cloud

We host and manage the entire stack in our data centers.

  • EU data centers — Frankfurt, Amsterdam (GDPR compliant)
  • US data centers — Virginia, Oregon
  • SLA-backed uptime guarantees
  • Daily backups with point-in-time recovery

What changes

On-premises

Deploy on your own hardware or private cloud.

  • We handle installation, configuration, and hardening
  • Your team controls physical access
  • Air-gapped deployments available
  • Integration with existing identity providers

What changes

Hybrid

Mix of cloud and on-premises based on your requirements.

  • Email in the cloud, files on-premises (or vice versa)
  • Gradual migration paths
  • Disaster recovery across environments
Operating modelSection 07

Security & compliance

The section clarifies how production responsibilities change once the service is in place.

What changes

Data protection

  • Encryption at rest and in transit
  • Customer-managed encryption keys (on-premises)
  • No third-party data sharing
  • Data residency guarantees

What changes

Access control

  • Multi-factor authentication (TOTP, WebAuthn)
  • SAML/OIDC single sign-on
  • Role-based access control
  • IP allowlisting

What changes

Compliance

  • GDPR compliance
  • HIPAA compliance (with BAA)
  • SOC 2 Type II compatible
  • Industry-specific regulations

What changes

Audit & monitoring

  • Comprehensive audit logging
  • Security event monitoring
  • Login attempt tracking
  • Admin activity logs
Operating modelSection 08

Comparison

Responsibilities, response paths, and technical changes are made explicit before work starts.

FeatureSelf-Hosted SuiteGoogle WorkspaceMicrosoft 365
Data locationYour choiceGoogle's data centersMicrosoft's data centers
Per-user pricingNo$6-18/user/month$6-22/user/month
Data sovereigntyFull controlLimitedLimited
Vendor lock-inNoneHighHigh
CustomizationFullLimitedLimited
Offline accessFullPartialPartial
Self-hosted optionYesNoNo
OutcomeSection 09

Who it's for

Expected changes are framed as practical operating improvements, not unsupported guarantees.

  • Data-sovereign organizations — Government, healthcare, finance requiring data residency
  • Cost-conscious teams — Companies where per-user SaaS costs don't make sense at scale
  • Privacy-focused businesses — Organizations that want full control over their data
  • Compliance-driven industries — Healthcare (HIPAA), legal, financial services
  • European companies — GDPR compliance with EU-hosted or on-premises deployment
EvidenceSection 10

Migration services

Runbooks, dashboards, reviews, and handoff material make the work auditable.

What changes

From Google Workspace

  • Email migration with folder structure preserved
  • Calendar and contact migration
  • Drive files migrated to Nextcloud
  • User communication and training

What changes

From Microsoft 365

  • Exchange mailbox migration
  • SharePoint and OneDrive to Nextcloud
  • Teams chat history (where supported)
  • Azure AD to LDAP/Zimbra migration

What changes

From legacy systems

  • On-premises Exchange migration
  • Lotus Notes/Domino migration
  • Custom email and file server migration
  • Data cleanup and deduplication
ScopeSection 11

What's included

The work is broken into visible capabilities, acceptance points, and handoff artifacts.

What changes

Setup & deployment

  • Infrastructure provisioning
  • Component installation and configuration
  • Security hardening
  • Integration and testing
  • User migration

What changes

Ongoing management

  • Software updates and security patches
  • Performance monitoring and optimization
  • Backup management and testing
  • Capacity planning
  • 24/7 incident response (Enterprise tier)

What changes

Support

  • Technical support for administrators
  • User onboarding documentation
  • Training materials
  • Quarterly review calls

Next stepSection 12

Getting started

Decision points and common questions are made explicit so follow-up work is scoped cleanly.

Ready to take control of your productivity suite? We'll assess your current setup and design a migration plan. Request Consultation →

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Pricing

Flexible scopes available. if you need custom terms or bundled service pricing.

On-request scope
Quoted

Self-hosted productivity suites are handled as scoped on-request work when they fit a broader infrastructure engagement.

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