Public IT service providers and specialised IT service providers to the local authorities are just starting to build up their cloud portfolios. International hyperscalers, large national companies and young start-ups, on the other hand, have a broad cloud portfolio aming at the public sector. Some of them no longer offer on-premise solutions. Microsoft's decision to offer MS Office exclusively as a cloud solution from 2029 is particularly relevant for the public sector. The federal administration is working together with a subsidiary of SAP on a cloud for public administration based on Microsoft, which is intended to ensure the sovereign operation of Office in the cloud. On the other hand, federal initiatives are working on open source alternatives that can be hosted in public administrations‘ data centres.
In recent years, the demand on public IT has been growing, particularly in terms of availability, resilience and IT security, while at the same time the shortage of skilled labour and the tight budget situation are limiting resources. This is leading to an increasing demand for cloud solutions. The German federal government has strategically anchored the increased use of cloud solutions and is driving forward major cloud projects with the dedicated German administration cloud. It is expected that the cloud offering for the public sector will expand in 2025 with the Delos Cloud, open source alternatives and Germany’s government cloud strategy.
