Austrian Army replace Microsoft Office with Libre Office
NEWS
The Austrian Armed Forces is saying goodbye to Microsoft Office and will be using Libre Office in future. The aim is to achieve greater digital sovereignty and independence in IT systems.
As MilitarAktuell reports, the Austrian Armed Forces have transitioned from Microsoft Office to the open-source LibreOffice suite across approximately 16,000 workstations. This change is driven not by cost savings, but by a desire for greater digital sovereignty and control over IT systems. Michael Hillebrand, from the Directorate 6 for ICT and Cyber, emphasized that the main goal is to keep IT infrastructure independent and ensure sensitive data is processed internally.
The military has ruled out using external cloud services, especially as Microsoft began shifting its Office applications to the cloud five years ago. After a thorough decision-making process, the switch was finalized in 2021. In 2022, the Armed Forces began detailed planning and developer training to create custom extensions and programs for LibreOffice. Employees were given the option to switch early, and by 2023, a German service provider was brought in for support and development, e-learning courses were launched, and LibreOffice became mandatory in some departments.
The Armed Forces actively contribute their own improvements back to the LibreOffice project, benefiting the wider user community. Hillebrand stressed that the priority is operational readiness and control over software, especially in crisis situations.
Before the change, Microsoft Office 2016 Professional was widely used, including VBA and Access solutions. The military had always relied on its own Linux and Samba-based servers for email and collaboration, but Office was deeply integrated into workflows. Now, Office 2016 has been removed from all military computers. Those who still require Microsoft programs can request modules from Office 2024 LTSC, and Microsoft Access remains available for specific needs, with separate licenses for special fonts.