CIO Christine Serrette details the German federal center for information technology’s cloud migration process as part of a multi-step plan. Credit: ITZBund In order to avoid falling into the trap of legacy applications, Germany’s federal center for Information Technology, the ITZBund, recognized early to execute a future-oriented cloud landscape, says Christine Serrette, the federal administration’s CIO and deputy technical director. The ITZBund acts as a central IT service provider for the federal administration and operates a wide range of critical processes in the areas of transport, budget, taxes, internal security, and integration, for example. Cloud first is, therefore, one of the center’s three strategic goals, alongside agile working methods and Federal Client, the incident reporting tool, which evaluates bids and award of contracts. Federal cloud and federal operating platform The path to the cloud began in 2016 with the creation of the Federal Cloud, Serrette says, and the ITZBund uses it for the federal e-file, collaboration scenarios, and as a project management and development platform. During the course of this, the Federal Operating Platform was created, a private cloud environment divided into various security levels. “In 2022, we received the world’s first VS-NfD approval and basic protection certification from the BSI for this cloud,” she says, speaking of approval for classified information for official use only, which is the lowest of four levels of secrecy for authorities. The next development is called Bundescloud 2.0 and includes, among other things, the upgrade to new private cloud platforms without losing the BSI certification. “But we are also realistic and know we have our private cloud for the long term since we can’t develop the way the market is developing,” she says. Against this background, a program was created intended to further develop the ITZBund into a multicloud manager. Several key projects are assigned to this program including BC Business Transformation, Multi-Cloud Platform, Federal Cloud 2.0, and MS Sovereign Cloud, and part of the transformation, Serrette wants to adapt and redesign both the internal processes and the interaction with customers. “Ordering, procurement, provision, and billing processes must be fundamentally changed,” she says. The Multi-Cloud Platform project is designed to create the technical requirements for multi-cloud management. In addition to the existing Federal Cloud, the ITZBund is also building an external cloud in its own data centers, which will be operated and further developed by service providers. Serrette also wants to use services from a sovereign cloud in the future, offered by external providers such as SAP. “For data and applications that don’t require special protection, we’ll use public cloud,” she says. However, the hurdles for this are considerable. For example, the ITZBund has to develop a sophisticated system to manage the different IT levels and create public tenders. Serrette’s team also developed a marketing and communications strategy for the multicloud management program. Value proposition Serrette emphasizes that she and her team offer customers a quick path to digitalization. “We can act quickly and flexibly, make services available at short notice, and dismantle them just as quickly,” she says. On this basis, ministries and authorities are offered a range of important services, including the federal e-file, training systems, and the development and project management platforms. Using container platforms, the ITZBund also supports projects in the context of the Online Access Act (OZG), which forms the legal basis for Germany’s digital modernization, and regulates digitizing administrative services through administrative portals. Related content opinion Where’s the ROAI? The Return on Investment for AI is in the use cases By Chris Selland May 08, 2024 4 mins ROI and Metrics Artificial Intelligence opinion Innovative data integration in 2024: Pioneering the future of data integration This article discusses the latest advancements in the data integration industry and how organisations can successfully integrate these technologies into their existing data strategy. By Yash Mehta May 08, 2024 8 mins Data Integration news Are You the Type of Player Who Makes IT Happen? By Elizabeth Cutler May 08, 2024 1 min Events Artificial Intelligence IT Leadership brandpost Sponsored by Adobe 5 use cases for how Generative AI can supercharge document productivity across the enterprise Take a closer look at real-world examples of how we are using GenAI to turn document data into peak productivity. By Maro Eremyan May 08, 2024 6 mins Generative AI PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe