First Sovereign Cloud Platform For The German Administration On The Home Straight
Delos Cloud, Microsoft and Arvato Systems have signed the final contracts for the establishment of a sovereign cloud platform for the public sector in Germany. Arvato Systems will provide the operational business for the platform.
The development of the sovereign cloud for the German public sector has reached the next milestone: now that the extensive preparatory work has been completed and the technical setup of the data centers is well advanced, Delos Cloud, Microsoft and Arvato Systems have signed the final contracts governing the companies’ cooperation in providing a sovereign cloud platform for the public sector in Germany. The companies made the announcement yesterday.
The two contracts between Delos Cloud, a German operating company founded by SAP, and Microsoft as well as Delos Cloud and Arvato Systems form the legally binding basis for further cooperation and the sustainable operation of the sovereign cloud platform for the German administration. Much has already been achieved in the ongoing project, which has been intensively driven forward by the three companies involved since 2022. In a joint process, the necessary roles and the operating model were defined, and computer centers already equipped with hardware were set up. The further establishment and long-term operation of the sovereign cloud platform for the German administration by Delos Cloud are thereby ensured. Another focus over the the next several weeks will be the intensive preparation of customers in the public sector for the upcoming cloud technology. In the first half-year 2025, first Azure Foundational Services and in the second half-year 2025, first Azure Mainstream Services and Microsoft Office 265 provided by Delos Cloud will be available for evaluations. “By signing the cooperation contracts, we have reached another milestone in the establishment of the sovereign cloud platform of Delos Cloud. Now, the task is to implement the contractual objects as quickly as possible,” said Nikolaus Hagl, designate CEO Delos Cloud. “Our goal is to provide the federal, state and local governments with the first sovereign hyperscale cloud starting in 2025 which will fully meet the Cloud Platform Requirements of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). This will provide crucial support for the digitalization of the state and society in Germany.”
Technology partnership with Microsoft
Delos Cloud provides a sovereign cloud for the German administration based on the hyperscaler technology Microsoft Azure. The services of the sovereign cloud platform include, in particular, the extensive collaboration tools and productivity solutions of Microsoft Office 365. The cloud platform will be technically, operationally and legally sovereign in accordance with the federal government's regulatory requirements. This means that Delos Cloud is currently the only cloud offering to fully comply with the BSI's requirements for IT security and confidentiality as well as the legal requirements for data protection in coordination with the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI). As the owner of the infrastructure, Delos Cloud GmbH is responsible for both the platform operation and the licensing of its products. Microsoft contributes to the development and creation of the sovereign cloud as a technology supplier. The cooperation between the companies ensures that federal, state and local authorities can sovereignly use the Microsoft services offered by Delos Cloud in their administrations. Agnes Heftberger, Chair of the Board of Microsoft Germany, said: “We are very pleased to make Delos Cloud, the secure and hyperscalable Microsoft technology, available in a fully sovereign environment that also complies with the BSI’s strict sovereignty requirements. This cooperation gives public administration a unique selection which can serve a broad range of sovereignty requirements, from the public cloud to the sovereign Delos Cloud.”
First project at the federal level
State Secretary and Federal CIO Markus Richter also welcomes the progress of the Delos Cloud project:“The federal government's joint audits in the MSSC project and the parallel establishment of Delos Cloud's cloud platform are important milestones for the digitalization of the German administration and Germany's digital sovereignty. With a view to our multicloud strategy, I therefore expressly welcome the recent agreement reached by the project partners Delos Cloud and Microsoft as well as Arvato Systems on the technology partnership as an important prerequisite for the successful implementation of this strategically important IT project.” Since 2020, Delos Cloud and Microsoft have been working together as part of the MSSC project commissioned by the Federal Government's IT Council under the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) and the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Home Affairs (BMI). The project aims to examine the secure provision of Microsoft cloud services for the entire German administration and thus enable the sovereign use of these services. In addition, technology openness and vendor neutrality of the sovereign cloud platform are one of the project's central requirements. Third-party providers can also offer their solutions via the Delos Cloud infrastructure if and insofar as the applications meet the requirements of the BSI. The Delos Cloud platform will also support open source software.
Platform operation with cooperation partner Arvato Systems
Arvato Systems, with its many years of experience in operating data centers and critical infrastructures, will operate the platform. Delos Cloud and Arvato Systems are jointly developing the operating processes of the Delos Cloud and will ensure on-site operation at several locations in Germany in the long term. One of the central cloud platform requirements of the BSI is that all data of the German administration is processed within Germany. In accordance with confidentiality regulations, operation is carried out by a German operating company with security-cleared German personnel. With the cooperation contract concluded, Delos Cloud will fulfill this requirement with the support of Arvato Systems. Matthias Moeller, CEO of the Arvato Systems Group and CIO of Bertelsmann, welcomes the conclusion of the contract: “In our partnership with Delos Cloud, we are creating the ideal basis for advancing the digitization of the German administration and providing the sovereign hyperscale platform of the future with modern and innovative services. Many years of experience and established processes help us to provide a high-performance and scalable basis for public administration in the interests of citizens.”
