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provision of infrastructure, secondly, quick setup times (which also supports
agile development), thirdly, easy upgrade options and flexible scalability,
and finally there is an additional benefit with respect to security issues when
contracting external IT services providers.
5.5
kiv.TrustedCloud
Where the way to the Cloud is a matter of course
In Germany, the public administration sphere is not exactly known for its
innovative flair. And yet datacentres that closely resemble a Cloud
infrastructure have been in existence for many years. They already possess
the rudiments of centralisation and virtualisation as well as multi‐client
capability and scalability – and they are secure.
Even more intriguing news is that the biggest municipal datacentre in
Germany, the KIVBF (Kommunale Informationsverarbeitung Baden‐
Franken), has put itself forward as a pioneer prepared to take the necessary
steps to create a full‐blown community Cloud, called kiv.TrustedCloud.
The Datacentre
The KIVBF, based in Karlsruhe, is the largest municipal IT service
organisation in the federal state Baden‐Wuerttemberg and full‐service
provider for cities, municipalities and administrative districts as well for their
municipal business enterprises (public utility companies, hospitals). With a
way of working, driven by economic efficiency and innovative concepts,
KIVBF has taken a leading position at the market. The portfolio is oriented
on sustainable support of customers’ business processes. With its solutions
for finance, HR as well as registration and regulatory matters in combination
with integrative state‐of‐the‐art solutions, such as geographic information
systems or document management and archiving systems; KIVBF covers all
core areas of public administration, comprehensive services in consulting,
education and ensures added value and durable benefits for customers and
users. In cooperation with nameable partners, a secure, economic and
ecological efficient datacentre operation, based on most actual
technologies, is guaranteed. 627 employees are working for KIVBF. Together
with its subsidiary “Kommunales Rechenzentrum Baden‐Franken GmbH”,
sales volume in 2011 reached ca. 100 Mio. EUR. In association with 4
consortium partners, KIVBF has won the announcement “Trusted Cloud” of
the federal economics ministry.