PARIS: Bleu, a joint venture of Capgemini, Orange and Microsoft, is ready to offer its “cloud de confiance” services to French public and private organizations, starting from the end of 2024.

Bleu aims to meet the specific cloud needs of the French State, public agencies, hospitals, regional authorities, and other critical operators, using Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Azure technology.

Bleu has received validation from the European Commission in 2023 and is now engaging with potential clients to prepare their migration and testing. Bleu will operate from multiple data centers across France, ensuring high standards of resilience and availability.

“I’m proud of the work done by the Capgemini, Orange and Microsoft teams to realize 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’,” comments Aiman Ezzat, Chief Executive Officer of the Capgemini Group.

“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.”

Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange, commented: “Together with our partner Capgemini, we are very pleased to announce today the launch of activities of our joint venture Bleu.

As a leading player in the digital transformation of businesses in France, Orange is aware of the specific challenges in terms of data protection and sovereignty for critical infrastructure operators and public institutions.

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. »

Judson Althoff, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Microsoft, said, “We are proud to partner with Bleu to bring Microsoft 365 productivity solutions and Microsoft Azure services to their forthcoming ‘cloud de confiance’ platform.”

“With this strategic partnership, we are supporting France’s digital transformation efforts for its long-term success by enabling efficient and modern services.”