Berlin. Yesterday, Germany’s three leading social insurance providers announced the awarding of a contract to the company Computacenter AG & Co. oHG. With this framework agreement, the three largest social insurance providers in Germany are advancing their multi-cloud strategy and now have flexible access to cloud services from the three major American hyperscalers (AWS, Google and Microsoft Azure), as well as the offerings from four German and European cloud providers (IONOS, STACKIT, OVHcloud and CloudFerro).
Andrea Nahles, Chair of the Executive Board of the BA: “We aim to become the most modern provider of digital public services in Europe. That’s why we are driving innovation, particularly in the field of IT. This is an area in which a high-performance hybrid cloud infrastructure is indispensable and something we as public authorities haven’t been able to use – until now. I am delighted that we have been able to successfully complete our joint tendering process for the cloud services and that we are now embarking on the next steps. For this to succeed, however, we require the appropriate framework conditions and a set of regulations that helps rather than hinders. In the future, digital feasibility should also be taken into account when drafting laws and regulations.”
Stefan Latuski, CIO of the BA: “With this invitation to tender, we have the contractual basis for being able to actively help shape transformation processes. We can now access innovative services in the cloud and develop our software on a state-of-the-art basis. Our goal is to be able to offer our citizens modern, user-friendly services that are a reflection of our high-capability IT services. Personally, I am very pleased that in recent months we haven’t just completed a successful tendering process, we have also been able to push ahead with digitalisation in Germany at the federal level through a variety of initiatives.”
Dr Stephan Fasshauer, Director of DRV Bund: “With the joint tender for the cloud broker, we, working together with the BA and the DGUV, have successfully pooled our resources and made shared progress with the introduction of new technologies. The cloud offers additional flexibility and reliability. In the future, we will be able to use innovative cloud solutions on a case-by-case basis and better respond to the requirements of our users. We will also be able to further improve our services and respond to the challenges that come our way.
As ever, we won’t compromise when it comes to the security of either data or information.”
Dr Stefan Hussy, Director General of the DGUV: "The joint tender by the BA, DRV and DGUV for a multi-cloud broker is a groundbreaking step forward in the collaboration between the social insurance providers. In awarding this contract, we are creating a decisive basis for secure and efficient access to modern cloud services and thereby strengthening the digital sustainability of our providers. This project is an example of how we can make use of synergies and drive innovation together. We would like to thank the BA and the DRV for their excellent cooperation in this area.”
Wichtig:The journey to the cloud with the multi-cloud broker Computacenter AG & Co. oHG
In the years ahead, the three social insurance providers will offer cloud services through Computacenter AG & Co. oHG. The contract is for two years and can be extended twice for another year in each case.
Computacenter will provide a cloud portal which is adapted to the requirements of the social insurance providers and based on the product from the company meshcloud. In the future, the cloud broker will provide the contractual basis for access to cloud services at the BA. The cloud broker will also provide each of the participating social insurance providers with an order and billing portal. Once the order has been placed, the actual cloud services can be accessed directly from the respective cloud provider. With the launch of the cloud portal, the BA will be migrating the first use cases in the area of the BA’s “arbeitsagentur.de” online presence to the external cloud to make the website more attractive and effective for customers. The BA will make use of the cloud services where it makes technical and economic sense.