Bleu, which was announced in May 2021, will be operational in 2024 with its services including Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365.
The companies have been working closely together to confirm the target model, validate the technical solution with Microsoft and initiate the development phase of the project.
Jean Coumaros, chief transformation officer and member of the group executive committee at Capgemini has been selected as the proposed CEO of the joint venture.
“As an independent French company, 100% owned by French shareholders, Bleu will bring an unprecedented value proposition to French State and critical infrastructure operators,” said Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange.
“From now, our main ambition with our partner Capgemini is to make sure that clients are ready to benefit from Bleu services as soon as the platform is available and initiate their transition with the best support and guidance.
“This is the purpose of the Bleu Readiness Program. Trust is at the core of Orange value and is a key trigger for the French and European cloud ecosystem rise.”
Under the partnership, Bleu will offer Microsoft 365 and a broad range of Microsoft Azure services to clients including IaaS, PaaS and SaaS in a “cloud de confiance” environment.
The platform will be launched on a geographically distributed set of data centres in France with regular updates ensuring receive Azure and Microsoft 365 services.
