ECS 2025: Our Key Takeaways & Future Insights

Introduction

The European Collaboration Summit is always a highlight in our calendar, and ECS 2025 was no exception. The AURUM team packed its bags and headed to the event with a clear mission: to showcase our productivity app, Zeit365, connect with the vibrant Microsoft 365 community, and soak up the latest trends and innovations.

After a whirlwind of sessions, countless conversations at our booth (fueled by what some called the best coffee at the expo!), and valuable team discussions, we’ve consolidated our collective experience. Here’s a look at ECS 2025 through our eyes.

The Vibe: Community, Collaboration, and Connection

One of the most resounding takeaways from our team was the incredible sense of community. The event was a fantastic opportunity for us to connect not just with potential partners and customers, but also with each other on a different level. As one colleague put it:

The team spirit was really amazing, and it was great to learn from each other.

My personal highlight was the official Microsoft Appreciation Dinner. It provided a relaxed setting for deeper, more personal networking with peers from other companies.

Our own AURUM booth was a buzzing hub of activity. We were thrilled to give so many demos of Zeit365, engage in thoughtful discussions about the future of work and productivity and provide coffee. ☕️

Session Insights: Between AI Hype and Practical Knowledge

Unsurprisingly, AI was the dominant theme of the conference. The keynote made it clear that the future is all about “Agents, Agents, Agents…”. While the forward-looking vision was inspiring, some of our team members who are already deep in the AI space found many sessions to be a bit superficial, sometimes feeling more like a sales pitch for Copilot than a deep technical dive.

However, there were some real gems that provided immense value:

• Sessions like “Optimizing Microsoft Search” and “Empowering internal communications with Microsoft 365” were praised for their practical insights that we can directly apply to our work.
• An “AI Prompting Session for Power Platform” was a huge hit, sparking ideas on how to leverage AI in new and effective ways.
• A session on improving M365 security posture and another on Passkey authentication also provided a wealth of actionable information.

Besides that, there was not that much content for web developers and sessions focused on the day-to-day challenges of Microsoft Service Providers.

Our Contribution: Presenting the “Tenant-First Approach”

Beyond just attending with the team, I was thrilled to contribute to the official ECS agenda this year. I had the honor of taking the stage to present my session, “Building a Modern SaaS with Microsoft 365 Integration.”

In my talk, I introduced our guiding philosophy for Zeit365: the Tenant-First Approach. This principle puts customer data security and ownership front and center. The core idea is that any data or service that can be managed within your own Microsoft 365 tenant, should be. This approach minimizes data duplication, respects existing user permissions, and ensures that you remain in full control of your valuable information.

For those who missed it or want a deeper dive into how this philosophy shapes our architecture—from data handling with Microsoft Graph to our choice of database and infrastructure—I’ve written a detailed article that covers the entire session.

• Read my full guide: Building a modern SaaS with Microsoft 365 integration
• View my presentation slides: ECS 2025 Presentation Slides

This session was my first on-stage experience. It was a BLAST and I’m looking forward to more of these in the future. 🚀

Expo Hall Highlights: Drawing Inspiration from Our Peers

We believe in community over competition, and it was fantastic to see the innovation on display throughout the expo hall. Several booths caught our team’s attention and left a lasting impression:

• An interesting discovery was NordCloud. We had some great conversations and are currently evaluating how their offerings could potentially integrate with Zeit365 to bring even more value to our users.
• It was impossible to miss the EasyLife365 stand. Their unicorn mascot is as cool as their product’s governance features. Check them out if you want to get rid of your tenant’s chaos.

ShareGate knows migrations, and it seems like they know AI too. They proved their creativity in using AI by offering AI-generated trading cards of yourself which were printed right on the spot. As a player of Magic: The Gathering, they pushed the right trigger on me.

A special shoutout and massive thank you to the team at BindTuning! We were the lucky winners of their PacMan Arcade Machine giveaway! We’re still cheering! 🕹️🥳 Beyond the fun and games, they offer a fantastic product that makes templating, governance, and provisioning within Microsoft 365 incredibly easy.

Our Reflections and the Path Forward for Zeit365

ECS 2025 was not just an event; it was a valuable learning experience. The direct feedback and observations from the show floor are already shaping our strategy. The deep dives into Microsoft Search and internal communications have sparked new ideas for enhancing Zeit365’s integration capabilities. The enthusiasm for practical AI applications reinforces our commitment to building intelligent, genuinely useful features into our app.

We left ECS 2025 feeling energized and inspired. A huge thank you to the organizers for putting on another fantastic event, and to everyone who stopped by the AURUM booth to chat with us.

The insights gained are invaluable, and we are more excited than ever about the road ahead for Zeit365. Stay tuned as we begin to roll out new features and integrations inspired by our time at the European Collaboration Summit!