Case Study: GWDG Prevents File Conflicts with ONLYOFFICE

How ONLYOFFICE and ownCloud implemented in GWDG help researchers and educators

GWDG, the university computing centre for the University of Göttingen and a competence centre for the Max Planck Society, used ownCloud to share and collaborate on files across institutions. However, simultaneous editing could still create synchronization conflicts and “conflict files,” so GWDG looked for a better way to let users work together in real time. To address this, GWDG turned to ONLYOFFICE, which was already available as a separate service, and sought tighter integration with ownCloud.

ONLYOFFICE and ownCloud jointly developed a connector that lets users edit Office files directly in the ownCloud web interface, with changes synchronized in real time to prevent conflicts. The integration supports collaborative editing of Microsoft Office formats and improved productivity features such as review, comments, and live chat. GWDG reported that its ownCloud service now serves around 4,000 active users per month and 1,500 per day, with smoother file processing, reliable operation, and increased collaboration and productivity.

GWDG

Ralph Krimmel

GWDG