Bundeswehr relies on Google Cloud
A contractual partner has now been found for the "Bundeswehr's private cloud" – It comes from Google. Two cloud instances are to be created.
Contract signed by BWI GmbH and Google
(Image: BWI GmbH/Ilya_Pusenkoff)
Google has announced that the US company will provide cloud instances for the German Armed Forces via BWI GmbH. Two new cloud instances are to be created for the armed forces by the end of 2027.
BWI GmbH is a purely federal company and sees itself as an IT system house and IT service provider for the Bundeswehr. It has now concluded a framework agreement with Google Cloud Public Sector – Deutschland GmbH for the procurement of “Google Cloud Air-Gapped” for the German defense forces.
Bundeswehr cloud: private in its data center
The cloud environment can be installed and operated physically isolated from the public internet and other Google systems in the Bundeswehr's own data centers, which Google calls “air-gapped”. In Google's announcement in the cloud blog, the company therefore emphasizes: “The Bundeswehr has control over its data at all times and thus meets its requirement for information and data security.”
This is the Bundeswehr's “private cloud”, or pCloudBw for short. The BWI is to set up two physically separate cloud instances to process open and protected data. The Bundeswehr wants to use business-critical applications on SAP's Business Technology Platform (BTP) for secure operation in its data center or network. The Bundeswehr uses SAP software for logistical and administrative purposes. The SAP software only works with certain systems; an open solution such as OpenStack is not one of them.
Videos by heise
The Bundeswehr is pursuing a “cloud-first” strategy, which means that future services will always be available in the cloud. The BWI is also planning to increasingly use open-source software in the pCloudBw in the future – “to fulfill its claim to digital sovereignty”. However, Google and BWI are not revealing anything about the costs of the two cloud instances.
Digital sovereignty is now a very important issue in IT. This was impressively demonstrated by the case of Microsoft's email blocking for the chief prosecutor of the International Court of Justice. Microsoft also claims to want to ensure digital sovereignty in Europe, for example by securing the source code of the company's software in Switzerland and building additional data centers – but this has proven to be practically ineffective in the face of the email block.
(dmk)
