Microsoft will collaborate with SAP subsidiary Delos and the French Bleu to ensure the continuity of the European cloud in crisis situations.
The triangular relationship between Microsoft, Delos, and Blue was sealed during a Franco-German summit on digital sovereignty. The collaboration between Microsoft and Delos means that the latter may provide Azure cloud services in Europe when Microsoft itself can no longer do so, for example, due to international sanctions.
Backup for Microsoft
Should such an extreme situation ever arise, Delos will take over the workloads of affected customers. To that end, Microsoft gives Delos Cloud the necessary legal and technical rights, including access to the source code of its cloud services. Delos Cloud can then continue those services under European control.
This collaboration is in line with Microsoft’s European Digital Commitments, which were recently tightened. In it, the company also promises, among other things, to legally oppose government contracts from outside Europe that want to shut down cloud services for European governments. In this way, Microsoft wants to guarantee sovereignty as far as it can.
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Franco-German Alliance
Delos, a German subsidiary of SAP, is also pulling the French Bleu into the pact. The collaboration with Bleu is aimed at technical and operational support in cross-border crisis situations in Europe. Both companies want to use each other’s infrastructure and expertise in, for example, military conflicts or large-scale cyber attacks.
Within the partnership, systems are being developed for early detection, analysis, defense, and recovery from digital incidents. Through this Franco-German collaboration, Bleu and Delos Cloud want to strengthen the digital resilience of both countries.
According to Bleu, the technical and operational teams will jointly develop scenarios to assist governments during crisis situations. The collaboration should also contribute to long-term stability in Europe’s digital infrastructure. With these agreements, the parties involved want to safeguard Europe’s digital independence and have a contingency plan ready for possible geopolitical disruptions.