Since 2018, Nextcloud partner HKN has offered a GDPR compliant set of collaboration tools, hosted in a German, ISO 27001 certified data centers in Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt am Main under the name of OpenCloud. With this digitally sovereign workspace, customers can get access to a managed digital workspace based on Nextcloud Hub, with optionally other components. The solution also includes Univention Corporate Server as Single Sign On provider.
We introduced the OpenCloud solution as a premier open source cloud computing platform in 2019 in an earlier post. As, in a few days, the Univention Summit kicks off in Bremen, we thought we would catch up with HKN CEO Marco Nöchel, and learn more about OpenCloud and how it facilitates data sharing and collaboration with maximum security, flexibility and complete control!
Nextcloud: Thanks for taking the time, Marco! What inspired HKN to create the OpenCloud: the digitally sovereign workspace offering?
Marco: While HKN has long offered a variety of custom Nextcloud solutions, there has been a real need in the market for a more turn-key digital workspace, something that ‘just works’. While, of course, complying with the full range of strict security, compliance and digital sovereignty requirements only a a fully open source, German-hosted platform can offer.
So we worked with a number of partners, including Scaleup Technologies, Univention and Nextcloud, to put together a portfolio that offers a complete digital workspace.
Users have a ton of flexibility, from a basic EFSS for file sharing and collaboration to a full digital workspace that also offers email, calendar, chat, calls, project management and more.
Nextcloud: What exactly is OpenCloud and what sets OpenCloud Workspace as a file management and collaboration platform apart from other players in the market?
We’ve completely rethought our open source offering with the OpenCloud! Many providers use great open source solutions like Nextcloud, but what use is the digital sovereignty that the software offers if you run it on the infrastructure of a hyperscaler like AWS or Azure? So it’s easy to want to run open source in an open source cloud like OpenStack.
But you might ask yourself: “how secure is OpenStack on proprietary infrastructure?” and that is a very good question.
Enter Christoph Streit, the visionary CEO of ScaleUp, who pioneered the idea of using OCP hardware, given that the blueprints for OCP are also open source.
Building on this innovative concept, we offer the OpenCloud Workspace, a comprehensive suite of fully integrated solutions that redefines digital sovereignty.
The OpenCloud Workspace includes:
Fully managed Nextcloud Hub
Fully managed Univention Corperate Server
We optionally also offer a fully managed Zimbra. When choosing the solutions, the possibility of seamless integration and the support provided by the manufacturer were crucial to us. That is why each of these solutions is also licensed, although many still think that open source should be free of charge.
Nextcloud: So it is a portfolio of email and collaboration tools. Can you talk more about the OpenCloud Workspace?
Marco: Absolutely! The OpenCloud Workspace is our digital workplace that offers companies complete digital sovereignty. It forms a drop-in replacement for Microsoft 365 functionality, from email and video chat to document sharing and editing. But it is also easy to fit in a heterogeneous environment, where different teams use different applications.
We have already extensive experience introducing the platform at customers, including migrating their data and users over from other applications like SharePoint.
As a customer, you don’t want to rely for critical functionality on unproven technology with an uncertain future. So we wanted to offer something that has a track record of delivering scaleable, secure and practical solutions to thousands of customers and millions of users over a long period. Nextcloud is a unique player in that regard.
The long term vision also shows in capabilities like the Nextcloud Assistant, which turns all those unstructured data you have into a valuable resource. Its ability to search through and answer questions about your data, even help get work done – will prove to be invaluable for the future work place.
Combine that with a full set of functionality for seamless collaboration and mature clients on all platforms, mobile and desktop, and you got the perfect solution for collaboration that customers can truly trust.
Nextcloud: in 2019, you already had a ton of customers. Any chance we could get an update?
Marco: 2019 is already some time ago and there have been many changes since then. Without giving precise figures, I can confirm that we currently have hundreds of customers with tens of thousands of users and are a Nextcloud Platinum Partner. Not all customers use the entire OpenCloud Workspace, some might prefer Zimbra for groupware or don’t need some components. This means that a variety of combinations are possible.
One of our newer customers is Jugendhilfe Köln, with whom we are currently working on a case study. This was an exciting project as the ‘Jugendhilfe’ works at many locations and has very high requirements for the operability and data protection of its environment.
Nextcloud: Impressive! So what would a business or public organization need to do to get their own digitally sovereign workspace built on OpenCloud?
Marco: Don’t forget that companies can of course also use our OpenCloud as an IAAS cloud if they themselves want to host their Nextcloud on a complete open source cloud, for example. If you’re interested, just surf to our website https://open-cloud.de, where you’ll find all OpenCloud Services explained and linked to the appropriate contact persons.
You are all welcome to OpenCloud: the digitally sovereign workspace!
The landing page for our upcoming Nextcloud Hub release is now live! On September 27, 2025, at 10AM (CEST), we will present the latest Nextcloud Hub live from the Nextcloud Community Conference in Berlin, Germany. And you can be part of it, too, by signing up for the online launch! While you’re registering, you might […]
Passionate about data privacy and Nextcloud? We invite you speak at the Nextcloud Community Conference to share your experience, knowledge and news with the community!
For the ninth time, Nextcloud has been nominated for the CloudComputing-Insider Readers’ Choice Award in the category of Cloud Content Management. We’d love to reach the top again! And we’re looking for the support of you and everyone else in our amazing community to get there. Nextcloud as the best Cloud Content Management tool? Only […]
In the Nextcloud 2024 wrap-up, we want to take a moment to celebrate this year's achievements. Join us as we continue to reimagine what’s possible - shaping a world where open source, privacy and connection come together and drive progress for the greater good.
Organisations, small and large, need a way to ensure the resiliency and digital sovereignty of their operations – an open-source, privacy-respecting alternative to Teams. And today, we present that solution - Nextcloud Talk.
Nextcloud has been recognized with the World Summit Award Germany that selects and promotes local digital innovation improving society, aiming to contribute to the United Nations' agenda of sustainable development goals.
DIE ZEIT, a prominent German outlet, interviewed Nextcloud’s founder Frank Karlitschek for an article on Microsoft’s anti-competitive behaviour on the European office software market. Read for a recap of the article and the key takeaways.
MagentaCLOUD’s migration to Nextcloud in 2021 resulted in a fully equipped Online Storage with an integrated online office suite that further improves the user experience, flexibility and security for customers.
We bring you a major update to the Nextcloud AI Assistant, plus the news we work with several big hosting providers like IONOS and OVHcloud to bring AI-as-a-Service options to you!
Bechtle and Nextcloud announce today a complete managed collaboration platform for the public sector that requires no tender and can be deployed immediately.
Discover how to make the switch from ownCloud to Nextcloud. Our quick guide provides insights into the migration process, helping you make the transition smoothly.
Today, US-based file sync & share vendor Kiteworks announced their acquisition of ownCloud and Dracoon. Kiteworks points out that their customers now have access to their file-sharing application. It is to be expected they will not maintain 3 similar products, but customers will have to migrate to the US firms’ platform or look for another […]
As part of Schleswig-Holstein's state digitization strategy, the state chancellery has announced they will work with Nextcloud to develop AI for working with government documents. This comes just after we announced the first private AI assistant last weekend with Hub 6. The German state already uses Nextcloud and their AI strategy aligns with our work on ethical, local AI technologies.
Over the last year, AI has become a popular topic. Some is hype, some is substance. Some is good, some is bad. We want to give you the good, not the bad, and ignore the hype! AI has a ton of opportunity – but also risk. So we put you in control – off by […]
We save some cookies to count visitors and make the site easier to use. This doesn't leave our server and isn't to track you personally!
See our Privacy Policy for more information. Customize
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously and help us understand how our visitors use our website. We use cloud-hosted Matomo
Service:Matomo
Cookies description:
_pk_ses*: Counts the first visit of the user
_pk_id*: Helps not to double count the visits.
mtm_cookie_consent: Remembers that consent for storing and using cookies was given by the user.
Cookies expiry:_pk_ses*: 30 minutes
_pk_id*: 28 days
mtm_cookie_consent: 30 days