Watch Out Microsoft And Google, Cloud Version Of Open Source LibreOffice Is Here

The popularity of cloud office suites has increased manifold in the recent years. This has benefitted the software-as-a-service model of Microsoft Office 365 and Google Docs. To challenge these tech giants and their closed source solutions, two open source companies Kolab Systems and Collabora are working to provide an open solution for your private cloud.

Collabora are the guys who offer LibreOffice for enterprises and Kolab Systems is a Swiss open source solutions provider. Together, they have created Collabora CloudSuite, the cloud version of the open source LibreOffice office suite. Being called as CODE (Collabora Online Development Edition), this office suite implementation runs on ownCloud server.

If we talk about the apps available online, currently there are three of them. There’s Writer (read MS Word), Calc (read Excel), and Impress (read PowerPoint). In the suite, you get the ability to create new documents and do editing. The advanced functionalities like online collaboration are in the pipeline. Talking about the platform support, it works across multiple devices and platforms.

Take a look at some screenshots of the suite:

While Collabora refuses to accept that it’s moving ahead to directly compete with the existing giants, Collabora is also looking for more partners who can integrate CODE into their services.

“For too long, closed and insecure solutions have been the industry standard for office and groupware productivity,” said Kolab System’s CEO Georg Greve in a statement.

I’ve been using CODE for a while. Just like Office 365 and LibreOffice, it feels very convenient to use. If we talk about the needs of the enterprise, is it good enough? Well, Kolab has been doing that for a long period of time.

Another important question — right now it’s in preview phase, so, when will Collabora CloudSuite be completely ready? The first version of this suite is slated to appear in 2016 Q2, let’s hope that the creators can match this deadline.

Know more about Collabora CloudSuite here.

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