Behind the Scenes: How the Schwarz Group confidently migrates 600,000 workspaces

How do you regain full control over your own data, especially when scaling up to almost 600,000 cloud-based workspaces? In an exclusive interview with c't, STACKIT Managing Director Michael Brenzel gives us a glimpse behind the scenes at Europe's largest retail group. Learn how the mammoth migration to Workspace by STACKIT was successfully completed in practice and how companies can free themselves from dependence on unpredictable price increases.

Regaining control: The end of vendor lock-in 

Until now, many large companies have faced a dilemma: they need state-of-the-art, globally proven collaboration tools, but in doing so often become heavily dependent on non-European cloud providers. The result is unpredictable cost increases and compromises in data protection. The Schwarz Group has broken this cycle. The specific trigger for the switch from Microsoft Office to the "Workspace by STACKIT" suite was a "more or less undisputed price increase without added value" by the previous provider. This prompted the Schwarz Group to look for a genuine, scalable alternative. The success speaks for itself: the number of old licenses in the group has already been reduced by almost 90 percent .

The best of both worlds: customized encryption 

The key to the success of this historic migration lies in the technological basis. Employees continue to enjoy the familiar, market-leading user experience, but behind the scenes, Workspace by STACKITensures maximum security. The solution uses the European infrastructure of Google Workspace as its basis, but combines it with specially developed client-side encryption directly in the browser. The unique selling point: key management runs exclusively in the German STACKIT data centers. This means that the technology partner can never view the content of a document; even in the event of legal requests from third countries, there would only be "data salad." 

The advantages of Workspace by STACKIT at a glance:

• Full digital sovereignty: Control over your data lies exclusively in Europe, managed in German data centers. 
• State-of-the-art collaboration: Your teams work with the best tools on the market without compromising on user experience.
• Cost control and transparency: Free yourself from unpredictable price jumps and rely on fair models.
• Tested under maximum load: Scalability proven on 600,000 workspaces and 1.5 million converted macro files.
   

The path to independence

For the companies of the Schwarz Group, digital sovereignty is the result of bold technological partnerships and a strong in-house infrastructure. The project impressively proves that digital sovereignty and state-of-the-art workplace IT in large organizations with complex system landscapes are no longer a contradiction. Workspace by STACKIT combines the innovative power of global standards with strict European data protection requirements.
Read all the technical and strategic details about the migration in the detailed background report and discover Workspace by STACKIT.