Element Pro: EU tests Teams backup – Employees dissatisfied

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Element Pro: EU tests Teams backup – Employees dissatisfied.

Digital sovereignty sounds great in Sunday speeches – in everyday government operations, it sometimes looks more sober. The EU Commission is looking for an alternative to Microsoft Teams and is testing the software Element Pro for this purpose. The initial feedback from its own ranks has been muted.

As reported by Golem.de, the EU Commission is currently trying out Element Pro as a backup for Teams. The background is the pursuit of more digital sovereignty – meaning less dependence on individual, especially non-European platforms. The pilot thus stands in a row with several initiatives with which Brussels has sought to diversify IT supply chains in recent years.

But the enthusiasm among employees is limited. According to Golem.de, some EU staff consider the software simply to be poor. Which specific points are decisive does not emerge from the short teaser – but it is notable that, of all things, the Commission's own workforce views the sovereignty showcase project critically.

What is the test actually about?

The EU Commission apparently wants to explore whether Element Pro is suitable as a fallback to Teams. The test stands, according to Golem.de, in the context of the pursuit of digital sovereignty. Element Pro positions itself as an enterprise variant based on the open Matrix protocol – exactly the kind of open, federated solution that Brussels favors as a counterweight to US platforms.

What does the employee criticism mean?

The fact that initial users rate the tested software as poor is, in itself, no verdict – pilot projects typically reveal teething troubles. What is remarkable, however, is that the EU Commission is, of all solutions, betting on Element Pro – a product marketed as a sovereignty building block. If its own people reject it, the strategy becomes hard to sell in practice – and the switch back to Teams politically attractive again.

What you need to know

• Who is testing? The EU Commission in Brussels.
• What is being tested? Element Pro as a backup for Microsoft Teams.
• Who is criticizing? Several EU employees – they consider the software to be poor.
• What is the political issue? Digital sovereignty and less dependence on US platforms.
• Source: Report by Golem.de, details in the linked article.

More on the topic of digital sovereignty and EU IT strategy can be found in our reporting at The Viral Source.