Our story
Our story
From 200 people in Zagreb to one European summit
ECS began in 2012 as a community event for SharePoint professionals. Today it covers the whole Microsoft ecosystem, and in 2027 the Collaboration, AI & Cloud and BizApps summits become one event.
2012
It started with a community
The first edition took place in 2012 in Zagreb, Croatia, under the name SPC Adriatics. The goal was to bring the best people in the SharePoint world together, with live demos of SharePoint Server 2013 and the new Office 365.
200 people attended. The idea behind it has not changed since: people learning from each other, not only from slides.
Milestones
Fifteen years in short
2017
A new name
The event had outgrown its regional name and became the European Collaboration Summit.
2018
Moving to Germany
The summit moved to Mainz, with the space and connections to grow.
2019
Over 2,000 attendees
In Wiesbaden, more than 2,000 people attended for the first time.
2020
Online
During the pandemic the event took place fully online.
2021
Back in person
Düsseldorf, together with the first European Cloud Summit. Of 2,500 registrations, 1,400 people came despite the pandemic.
2022
The Cloud Summit on its own
The first standalone European Cloud Summit took place in Mainz with 1,200 attendees.
2024
Over 3,000 attendees
The European Collaboration Summit and the European Cloud Summit in Wiesbaden with more than 3,000 attendees.
2025
The expo at the centre, and BizApps
Düsseldorf, with four expo stages, and the first European BizApps Summit.
2026
Three summits in Cologne
The Collaboration, AI & Cloud and BizApps summits side by side at Koelnmesse Confex.
2027
One event: ECS 2027
From 31 May to 2 June 2027, the three summits come together as one event at Congress Center Düsseldorf, with eight topics under one roof.
#communityrocks
Community at the core
ECS is organised by Microsoft MVPs, professionals and community members, not by a vendor. Its slogan, and registered trademark, is #communityrocks.
Learning
In-depth sessions you can act on, for architects, administrators, consultants, developers and decision-makers.
Networking
Microsoft product managers, MVPs, executives, customers and community leaders, face to face.
Inclusion
Pricing is kept affordable on purpose, so that students, freelancers and small businesses can attend too.