Working Without Big Tech in Science

Let me save you some pain: avoiding Google and Microsoft in biotech is like running experiments with one hand tied behind your back.

Every piece of lab software assumes you use Outlook. Every collaboration tool integrates with Google Drive. Every tutorial starts with "First, log into your Microsoft 365 account." When you choose independence from Big Tech, you're choosing the hard path.

But here's what changed: Big Tech needs your data more desperately than ever. Every email you send, every document you store, every chat message you type is training data for their AI models. Read Microsoft's new terms of service. Check Google's latest privacy policy. They're not even hiding it anymore. Your proprietary research, your patient data, your competitive advantages - it's all feeding their machines under the disguise of "data usage for service improvement and development". Especially if you are using the free tiers of Google, Microsoft, OpenAI or other big tech companies.

Here's the Big Tech Alternatives that actually work.

The Email Trap

Scientists love ProtonMail. It's Swiss, it's encrypted, it promises privacy. It's also a dead end for any serious business.

Here's why: email systems talk to each other using two protocols called IMAP and SMTP. Think of them as the universal language of email. IMAP lets programs read your email. SMTP lets them send it. Every CRM, every lab management system, every automated workflow expects these protocols.

ProtonMail encrypts everything so thoroughly that these protocols don't work without special bridge software that barely functions. You'll spend weeks trying to connect ProtonMail to your other systems. You'll fail. You'll switch back to Gmail in frustration.

Use something like Soverin instead. It's Dutch, respects privacy, follows GDPR, and speaks normal email protocols. If you're in the US, find a similar privacy-focused provider that supports standard IMAP and SMTP. Your future self will thank you when your CRM actually works.

File Storage That Makes Sense

Forget trying to replace Google Drive with another cloud service that's just surveillance capitalism with different branding.

Use OnlyOffice instead. It's what other "alternatives" secretly use under the hood anyway. When Nextcloud needs document editing, they embed OnlyOffice. When companies claim they have "Google Docs alternatives," they're usually reselling OnlyOffice with a facelift.

Here's what makes it work for startups: they charge $20 per month for your whole organization. Not per user. Per administrator. You could have fifty scientists using it, still $20. Google would charge you $6 per user minimum. Do the math.

The killer feature? Real Excel collaboration that actually works. Not "compatibility mode" that breaks your formulas. Not "view-only unless you convert." Science should not be running mostly on excel, but it does. So this is essential.

It's hosted in the EU (Germany and Netherlands), so your data follows GDPR rules, not whatever Silicon Valley decided this week. When you grow big enough to care about on-premise hosting, you can move the whole system in-house without changing tools.

Email Clients That Don't Waste Time

Use Thunderbird or Spark. Everything else is either spyware or abandonware.

Thunderbird looks like it escaped from 2003 because Mozilla cares more about function than fashion. It handles multiple accounts, encrypts properly, and never phones home with your data.

Spark is prettier and works better on phones. It's less private than Thunderbird but more private than Gmail.

Don't waste months evaluating every email client. I've tried them all. These two work.

Actual Secure Messaging

Slack is just Microsoft Teams with better marketing. Both are data vacuums that analyze everything you type.

You have two real alternatives, depending on your priorities.

If you're in Europe and want maximum privacy now: use Wire. It's Swiss/German, end-to-end encrypted, and actually works. The downside? Getting it on-premise later is like pulling teeth. They built it for privacy, not for self-hosting.

If you're planning ahead: use Mattermost. You can start with their hosted version tomorrow, then move the whole thing to your own servers next year without changing anything. Same interface, same features, just different ownership. It's like renting an apartment with an option to buy.

Both cost less than Slack. Both keep your discussions about patient data and experimental results private. Pick based on where you see yourself in three years.

The Manual Nobody Writes

Every alternative tool requires setup. Your new hires won't know OnlyOffice from OpenOffice. They've never heard of Wire or Mattermost. They think Thunderbird is extinct.

Write a setup guide for day one. Not a reference manual. A cookbook. "Click here. Type this. Paste that key here." Include screenshots of every step. Assume they know nothing because they don't.

Test it on your least technical employee. If they can't follow it, rewrite it. The thirty hours you spend on documentation saves three hundred hours of support.

The Truth About Independence

Here's what I won't sugarcoat: this approach costs more time, requires more expertise, and occasionally breaks in ways that Google rarely does.

You'll spend days integrating systems that would connect instantly with Microsoft. You'll lose some features you took for granted. Your consultants will complain. Your investors will need convincing that this is how OpenAI stays out of your data.

But you'll own your data. Actually own it. Not "own it until the terms of service change" or "own it unless there's a subpoena" or "own it until the company needs more training data." Own it like you own physical lab equipment.

In five years, when Google discontinues the service you would have relied on, when Microsoft doubles prices again, when your competitor's lawyers request discovery on cloud data, you'll be running the same boring, reliable, private systems that you control completely.

If you want this but you need some help, we made this plan just for you: https://aradon.bio/for-startups