Copenhagen Municipality said that due to financial considerations, concerns over dependency on a near-monopoly, and the geopolitical climate under US president Donald Trump, it had decided to phase out Microsoft as a main IT supplier.
“If, theoretically, relations with the US were to deteriorate, you could be concerned that Microsoft would be forced to shut everything down,” elected official Henrik Appel Espersen, chair of the city’s audit committee, told newspaper Politiken.
“That risk is real. And if we suddenly can’t send emails or communicate within our systems, we’re in trouble,” he added.
Aarhus Municipality stated similar reasons for its own decision. Both cities have relied heavily on Microsoft Office programmes and the company’s cloud services, according to Politiken.
The head of digital services at the Aarhus Municipality culture and citizens’ department, Bo Fristed, said a German service provider had already replaced Microsoft at the municipality.
The move reduces annual costs in his department from 800,000 kroner to 225,000 kroner, he said.
However, the change was not well received by a majority of staff who saw it as a downgrade, he admitted.
A European alternative is also likely to be found for Microsoft in Copenhagen, according to the report.
Danish tech specialist media Version2 last year reported that municipal costs for Microsoft IT alone had grown from 313 million kroner in 2018 to 538 million kroner in 2023.
At the time, Microsoft was described as an “integrated” part of municipal IT systems with no alternative option available.
Comments