First announced in May 2021, Bleu aims to address the sovereign cloud requirements of the French State and possibly beyond using Microsoft
Capgemini and Orange announced today that their jointly created trusted cloud company Bleu is now engaging with select French public and private organizations to ensure that they are ready for the migration…once the first services start to go live on the platform from the end of 2024. In addition, Bleu is aiming to obtain SecNumCloud 3.2 qualification in 2025 for its services, to offer trusted cloud based on Microsoft tech.
The companies launched Bleu in a strategic partnership with Microsoft, with the aim of meeting the specific cloud needs of the French State, public agencies, hospitals, regional authorities, vital importance operators (OIVs) and essential service operators (OSEs). Bleu will offer Microsoft 365 and a broad range of Microsoft Azure services, including IaaS, PaaS and SaaS, in a trusted cloud environment.
After receiving validation from the European Commission in 2023 Bleu is ready to sell…when the service is ready. The Bleu cloud platform will be launched on a set of geographically distributed data centres across France, meeting the necessary high standards of resilience and availability. The companies say that the coming months will be used to prepare their migration, carry out tests and pilots with clients, and to ensure customers’ successful onboarding on Bleu.
Fully compliant
“Orange is aware of the specific challenges in terms of data protection and sovereignty for critical infrastructure operators and public institutions,” said Orange CEO Christel Heydemann (above). “We are confident that Bleu will meet these needs by providing a cloud solution based on Microsoft services while being fully compliant with the standards set by French authorities in its ‘trusted cloud’ doctrine. Bleu is now fully operational and is actively working with its future customers to prepare for their migration to the platform.”
“I’m proud of the work done by the Capgemini, Orange and Microsoft teams to realise our shared ambition of being able to offer, through Bleu, a solution that will enable clients to leverage the full power of Microsoft cloud services in a ‘cloud de confiance’,” said Capgemini CEO Aiman Ezzat. “Bleu brings a unique combination of security and service benefits, including the widest range of technological innovations, enabling French organizations to accelerate their digital ambitions through the coming years.”
Microsoft EVP and chief commercial officer Judson Althoff said the company was proud to partner with Bleu to bring Microsoft 365 productivity solutions and Microsoft Azure services to their forthcoming trusted cloud platform. “With this strategic partnership, we are supporting France’s digital transformation efforts for its long-term success by enabling efficient and modern services.”