Blog
Hands-on articles on IT, software development, .NET, Microsoft and digitalisation for small and medium businesses.
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GitHub Copilot AI Credits: Understand Usage and Set Budgets That Work
Since June, GitHub Copilot bills in AI credits. How the pool and budgets interact, and how to set a limit via the REST API that actually stops spending.
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openDesk Instead of Microsoft 365? What Germany's Federal Office Suite Offers Small Businesses
openDesk replaces email, files, office apps and chat, but does not integrate with Microsoft 365. What that means for small businesses and how to get it.
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Next.js 16.4.1: a triage matrix for the three flaws of 14 October
Two critical RCEs and a DoS in Next.js: which one hits your instance, a build gate for next and sharp, and what went wrong while patching.
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Cyber Resilience Act: How Small Manufacturers Meet the Reporting Duty
Since 11 September 2026, manufacturers, small ones included, must report actively exploited vulnerabilities within 24 hours. Who is affected and how to report.
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Zammad flaws CVE-2026-102489 and 102490: secure your server now
Two actively exploited Zammad flaws: secure the logs, switch the package source, update to 7.2.1 and contain the still unpatched root escalation.
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Does ChatGPT Recommend Your Business? How SME Websites Gain Visibility in AI Search
Google AI Mode cites passages that answer a question in the first sentence. Five concrete GEO measures for SME websites.
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Uptime Kuma: Self-Hosted Status Monitoring with Docker Compose
Set up Uptime Kuma v2.5.5 with Docker Compose: HTTP, keyword and push monitors, Telegram alerts, and WebSocket-correct operation behind Traefik.
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Windows Server 2016 End of Support on January 12, 2027: How to Plan Your Migration in Time
Microsoft ends Extended Support for Windows Server 2016 on January 12, 2027. Three migration paths compared, with a concrete timeline and cost guidance for SMBs.
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Migrating .NET 8 to .NET 10: Breaking Changes, EF Core, and Docker
From net8.0 to net10.0: TFM swap, EF Core migrations, the new Ubuntu base image, and breaking changes in ASP.NET Core 10, all in one coherent worked example.
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Internal AI Policy for Businesses: How SMEs Comply with the AI Literacy Obligation Under Article 4 of the EU AI Act
Since 2 August 2026 the Bundesnetzagentur actively monitors AI literacy compliance. What an AI policy needs, with a concrete structure template.
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Docker HEALTHCHECK and restart_policy: when containers heal themselves and when they don't
HEALTHCHECK options, restart_policy modes and depends_on: condition: service_healthy explained, with a timing formula, a verbatim error, and the gotcha most people miss.
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Microsoft 365 Licence Audit 2026: Choosing the Right Plan After the Price Increases
Prices up to 43% higher since July 2026. A 5-step licence audit to right-size your Microsoft 365 subscriptions and cut costs before renewal.
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Restic: Set Up, Automate, and Test Encrypted Backups to S3 and Backblaze B2
Restic 0.19.1 in practice: initialize a repository, back up a Docker volume to Hetzner S3, set up a systemd timer, and understand forget vs. prune and two real error messages.
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Replacing Excel: When a Small Business App Outperforms Any Spreadsheet
When Excel starts creating operational risks instead of solving them: GoBD requirements, multi-user limits, and what a lean .NET app actually delivers and costs.
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Upgrading Paperless-ngx 3.0: Migration Without Data Loss
From 2.x to 3.3.0 without losing data: breaking changes, decrypt_documents, PAPERLESS_DBENGINE, and Tantivy search, step by step.
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Commissioning Custom Software: What Does a Software Project Cost for SMBs?
A straightforward decision guide for business owners: market cost ranges, typical project phases and the main cost drivers.
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Sandboxing AI Coding Agents with Docker: Secure and Reproducible
How to run Claude Code, Codex & co. in disposable containers or microVMs: from Docker flags and gVisor to Docker Sandboxes (sbx).
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Passkeys Instead of SMS: A 5-Step Guide to Planning Your Entra ID Migration Before 1 February 2027
Since 1 Sept 2026, Microsoft has enabled passkeys automatically for SMS MFA users. Microsoft-provided SMS ends for most users on 1 Feb 2027. A 5-step migration guide for your Entra tenant.
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Migrating MCP Servers to Spec 2026-07-28: initialize Gone, server/discover Required
MCP 2026-07-28 breaks backward compatibility: the initialize handshake is removed, server/discover is mandatory, and subscriptions/listen replaces resources/subscribe. Migration guide with the Python SDK.
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Ransomware Wave 2026: Qilin Targets Manufacturing and Construction in German SMBs
176 German victims in H1 2026, ranked 4th globally. Qilin is zeroing in on manufacturing and construction. Threat landscape and 7 immediate actions.
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Running Muse Glimmer Locally with Ollama: Meta's 30B Model on Consumer Hardware
Run Meta's Muse Glimmer 30B locally with Ollama ≥ 0.32.8: pull the model, call the REST API, send multimodal prompts. Up and running in 15 minutes.
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What Is RAG? Making Company Knowledge Searchable with AI
RAG lets an AI assistant answer from your own documents, with citations. What it actually is, which data suits it, and how a pilot project runs.
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Authelia or Authentik: Putting SSO Forward-Auth in Front of Self-Hosted Services
What forward-auth is, when Authelia is the right tool and when authentik is, plus a complete minimal example with Authelia 4.39.20 behind Traefik v3.7, including the cookie domain, middleware and session pitfalls.
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GDPR-Compliant ChatGPT Alternatives for SMBs: Azure OpenAI, Mistral, EU Hosting and On-Premise Compared
A comparison table covering data residency, DPAs and training use: Azure OpenAI, Mistral Vibe, IONOS AI Model Hub, PhariaAI and self-hosted models.
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WireGuard: A Minimal VPN Tunnel Between Two Hosts
A working minimal example (generate key pairs, write wg0.conf for both sides, wg-quick up, verify the connection) plus the three classic pitfalls: AllowedIPs, the UDP port and PersistentKeepalive.
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AI in the Skilled Trades: 5 Realistic Use Cases for Businesses in the Ruhr Region
Only four percent of German trade businesses use AI. Five use cases that genuinely save time in daily operations, assessed soberly, without the hype.
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nginx as a Reverse Proxy in a Container: Wiring Up Multiple Upstreams
A working minimal example: nginx via Docker Compose in front of three backend containers, with upstream blocks, path-based routing and correct header forwarding, plus the three traps around DNS, headers and WebSockets.
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Rolling Out Microsoft 365 Copilot in an SME: Prerequisites, Costs, Data Protection, Pilot Phase
A Copilot rollout roadmap for SMEs: licensing, technical prerequisites, cleaning up permissions, data protection and a pilot phase you can measure.
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Ollama: self-hosting an LLM locally (a Docker and REST API quickstart)
From a bare machine to your own LLM API in 15 minutes: start Ollama with Docker Compose, pull a model, call /api/generate and /api/chat with curl, plus three pitfalls (open API, streaming default, VRAM-dependent default context).
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Using ChatGPT in Your Business in Compliance with GDPR: DPA, Business vs. Free, EU Data Residency
When your business needs a data processing agreement for ChatGPT, which plan provides one, what happens to your data, and when EU data residency matters.
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GitHub Actions CI Boilerplate: Build, Test, and Push a .NET App as a Docker Image to GHCR
A complete GitHub Actions workflow for .NET projects: automated build, test, and Docker image push to GHCR in under 50 lines of YAML, no external services needed.
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What Does AI Consulting Cost for Small Businesses? An Honest Market Overview
Day rates, project phases, funding options: what SMBs should budget for professional AI consulting and when the investment pays off.
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Multi-Stage Dockerfile: Minimal, Secure Image for Node and .NET
Build tools don't belong in production images. What multi-stage builds actually save for Node and .NET, and where they save nothing, measured on my own images.
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Self-hosting Qdrant: a vector database for RAG via Docker in 15 minutes
A runnable minimal example: start Qdrant via Docker with an API key and a persistent volume, create a collection, upsert vectors, run a similarity query via curl, plus the Gridstore upgrade trap.
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Podman 6.0: running a rootless container as a systemd service with Quadlet
How to run a rootless container as a clean, boot-capable systemd service with Podman 6.0 and Quadlet, including a working Caddy example and the common pitfalls.
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Node.js security updates of June 2026: patch your container and harden it with the Permission Model
Node.js patched twelve CVEs on 18 June 2026, and more followed in July. Here is how to update your container to a patched version and harden the app with minimal effort.
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Critical nginx flaw CVE-2026-42945: check your version, patch and secure it
Heap buffer overflow in the rewrite module (CVSS 9.2). How to check your nginx version, compare it against the affected releases, patch and verify.
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Watchtower is dead: doing Docker container updates right in 2026 with Diun (notify instead of blind auto-pull)
Watchtower is archived. Diun as a maintained successor: a minimal Compose example on the Docker socket that watches all containers and notifies via Telegram or email.
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Cyber Insurance 2026: The IT Measures Insurers Now Require from SMBs
Without MFA, tested backups and a patch routine you can barely get a policy. Which requirements insurers ask about, and how to clear the hurdles.
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Cloudflare Tunnel: Expose Services Without Open Ports
Use cloudflared to bring a service online securely without opening a single inbound port, step by step via the CLI and as a Docker container.
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E-Invoicing Becomes Mandatory: The Issuing Obligation from 2027 and How SMEs Should Switch Now
B2B businesses already have to receive them. From 2027, issuing becomes mandatory too. Deadlines, XRechnung vs. ZUGFeRD and the steps to a clean switchover.
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Reverse Proxy for Containers: Traefik, Caddy, nginx
Caddy and Traefik compared head to head, plus working Docker Compose stacks for both: labels, Caddyfile, automatic HTTPS, common pitfalls and a pointer to nginx.
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Windows 10 Is Out of Support: How SMBs Move Safely to Windows 11 Now
Windows 10 no longer receives security updates. What the ESU bridge costs, which PCs can handle Windows 11 and how to migrate without losing data.
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Modernizing a legacy .NET application: when the effort is really worth it
Migrate, rebuild or keep running? A decision guide for SMBs with aging .NET software.
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SQL Server 2025 vs. SQL Server 2022: the key differences
What SQL Server 2025 (17.x) adds over its predecessor 2022 (16.x): a native vector type and AI in T-SQL, a native JSON type, RegEx, optimized locking, plus changes to editions, licensing and discontinued components.
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Workflow Automation with n8n: Self-Hosting, Architecture, and First Workflows
A practical look at workflow engines using n8n: how it compares to Make, Zapier, Temporal, and Airflow, plus Docker self-hosting and a first workflow.
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Incoming Webhooks in Microsoft Teams Are Being Retired: How to Post to a Channel Today Using Workflows (Power Automate)
Microsoft is retiring Office 365 Connectors and Incoming Webhooks in Teams. Here is the verified status and the recommended Workflows (Power Automate) replacement.
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Sending Emails Programmatically with the Microsoft Graph API
Send emails from Microsoft 365 via the OAuth2-based Graph API: app registration, token retrieval, working C# code, and a curl example.
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Exchange Server 2016 and 2019 are end of life: migrate safely now
No security updates since October 2025. What businesses running their own Exchange server should do: the paths to Exchange Online and Exchange Server SE.
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EU AI Act Since August 2026: What SMBs Using ChatGPT, Copilot & Co. Must Do Now
Since 2 August 2026 new obligations under the EU AI Act apply. What small businesses really need to take care of, and what is pure scaremongering.
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Making your website GDPR-compliant: the key steps for SMBs
Cookie banner, privacy policy, fonts, forms: a practical checklist to put your website on a legally sound footing.
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Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace: which fits small businesses?
An honest comparison for SMBs: cost, data protection, integration and migration effort, without the marketing fluff.
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NIS2 for SMBs: what small businesses should do now
Germany's NIS2 implementation law is in force. Who is affected, why even small suppliers feel it, and the first concrete steps.
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IT strategy for SMBs: from gut feeling to a plan in 5 steps
Only 20% of German mid-sized firms have a digitalisation strategy (KfW, 2022). How to build one pragmatically, including a scoring matrix you can copy.
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Why .NET and Microsoft 365 are often the best choice for small businesses
For SMBs, .NET and Microsoft 365 are more than the default: stable, secure, GDPR-capable and maintainable long-term. A practical overview.
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Backup strategy for SMBs: the 3-2-1 rule done right
Why most backups fail when it counts and how to do it better with the 3-2-1 rule, explained for small businesses.
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Self-hosted mail server or Microsoft 365: what's worth it for SMBs?
Ten days of logs, two real incidents and two price lists from running a mail server in production, and what that means for small businesses.
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