Updates from our Data Center

From Kopano to grommunio: Running Modern Groupware Sovereignly in Your Own Data Center

We recently made an important move in our infrastructure: our existing Kopano environment was fully replaced with grommunio. The decision was made deliberately, for both technical and strategic reasons. In this article, we share the reasoning behind it, our current setup, and the benefits we’ve gained from the transition.

Why the Switch?

The new hardware requirements of Kopano were no longer economically feasible for our use case. At the same time, it was clear that we wanted to continue operating a powerful and sovereign groupware solution fully under our control and on-premises. grommunio turned out to be the ideal alternative. Its architecture and user interface are very similar to Kopano, yet it is far more resource-efficient, actively developed, and maintained within the EU.

Our Current Setup at a Glance

The new groupware platform is based on grommunio and includes all core functions:

Email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and webmail

ActiveSync support via zPush

Integration of external clients via IMAP/SMTP, CalDAV, and CardDAV

Authentication via FreeIPA

High availability through integration into our Proxmox cluster environment

Benefits in Daily Operations

grommunio offers a range of advantages, especially for administrators familiar with Kopano:

Familiar interface and similar configuration

Full data sovereignty thanks to pure on-premises operation

Multi-tenancy, ideal for internal and external mailboxes

Compatibility with Outlook, Thunderbird, and mobile devices (iOS/Android)

A dashboard to support configuration and operation

Development and support within the EU, specifically from Vienna

Important Considerations for Implementation

Running grommunio requires solid knowledge in email infrastructure, TLS, authentication, and DNS. While grommunio provides functional documentation and an active community, the scope of support is more limited compared to larger commercial solutions like Microsoft Exchange. In particular, functionality with Outlook may vary depending on the ActiveSync version. Security updates and system maintenance are entirely the operator’s responsibility, a factor that must be considered during planning and operations.

Conclusion: A Sovereign Transition for Kopano Users

grommunio is a modern, data-sovereign groupware solution with a familiar user experience, making it a worthwhile alternative especially for former Kopano users. It combines full control over data with strong functionality and efficient resource usage, all developed in Europe, with its headquarters in Vienna.