The city of Gentilly, in Val-de-Marne (department 94), had long built its digital landscape around Microsoft tools, stretching from office automation to the intranet and SharePoint-powered collaboration.
Starting in 2020, the municipality began a process to reduce its reliance on non-European solutions. The work progressed gradually, at the pace of an inventory of the tools and applications used by the services.
“We have progressively embarked on a broad reflection of our information system to favor solutions we control more directly and that better address our sovereignty challenges,” says Dominique Joseph-Eugène, Chief Information Officer of the City of Gentilly.
A Cyberattack as a Turning Point
In 2025, a cyberattack affected part of the municipality’s information system, paralyzing it for several months. The incident compelled the city to restart and accelerate several ongoing projects, including the move to more collaborative tools.
“This episode was a real wake-up call. It forced us to reassess our digital environment and to speed up transformations we had already begun,” adds Dominique Joseph-Eugène.
Replacing SharePoint
The municipality chose to replace its SharePoint intranet with Jamespot, a France-hosted collaborative platform.
The project, relaunched after the cyberattack, went live at the end of 2025. It transformed the intranet from a mostly top-down system into a space that includes an enterprise social network dimension, where staff can comment and share information, in addition to simply accessing it.
“We shifted from a predominantly top-down intranet to a genuine collaborative platform. Information flows more smoothly, but above all, employees can participate and contribute. This changes the way we work in a fundamental way,” notes Axel Burklé, head of internal communications.
A Project Born from Ground-Level Needs
Before selecting a tool, Gentilly, a town of 19,000 residents, conducted a diagnostic with its teams to identify real needs. The feedback highlighted a desire for more exchanges, more interactive tools, and information that is less one-directional.
“The project did not stem from a tool, but from a need. Staff expressed what they were missing in their daily work, and that greatly facilitated buy-in,” explains Axel Burklé.
Today, about 480 staff members—roughly 60% of the affected workforce—are connected to the Jamespot platform. Adoption remains gradual, particularly among field agents who are less equipped with digital access than administrative staff.
A Partial Transition
Replacing the intranet forms part of a broader effort to regain control over the information system. The municipality now favors French or European solutions for an increasing portion of its tools, aiming to improve interoperability and reduce dependence on a single ecosystem.
Some Microsoft components remain in use, with the transition progressing incrementally rather than as a single bulk switch.
“Sovereignty has become a very concrete issue for local authorities. It is no longer merely a principle, but an operational reality that directly affects our architecture, our technology choices, and our ability to master our data,” concludes Dominique Joseph-Eugène.
