With increasing digitalization of armed forces all over the world, the Thales Group has now announced that it will partner up with Microsoft to provide a Defence Cloud solution to armed forces by making use of the tech giant's Azure Stack.
The major aim of the two multinationals is to offer a flexible cloud application platform, one that provides advanced functionalities which current defence clouds are not capable of providing. As such, the companies hope that it will help enhance the storage, management, and in particular, the analyzation of large amounts of data for real-time intelligence gathering and further important applications on and off a battlefield.
Microsoft's Azure Stack - a cloud computing software solution designed to deliver on-premise Azure services - will be used as the baseline system for this whole operation, enabling smooth integration with Thales's cybersecurity and encryption solutions. This will also guarantee the security of sensitive data, whether it is being deployed in the field or being hosted at Ministry of Defence (MoD) headquarters. Interestingly, each integrated system will be portable and capable of working offline due to the varying environmental conditions the cloud solution will be expected to operate in.
Jean-Philippe Courtois, EVP and President of Global Sales, Marketing & Operations at Microsoft, commented on the partnership, noting:
“We are thrilled to announce our unique partnership with Thales to accelerate digital transformation in the defense sector. Our solution, Microsoft Azure Stack will help armed forces in the analysis of huge volumes of sensitive data in order to make break through developments. Together with Thales, we will be able to provide a flexible cloud platform with an unequalled level of security that will help overcome challenges within the defense industry.”
Microsoft started the shipping of Azure Stack integrated systems back in September. Considering the massive scope of the Azure cloud platform, Thales is hoping that this will be a major step in providing armed forces "maximum flexibility with maximum security".
