Microsoft and Proximus NXT strengthen their strategic partnership to accelerate the deployment of sovereign cloud solutions in Belgium and Luxembourg

A concrete response to sovereignty and resilience challenges

At a time when requirements related to data control, security, and operational continuity continue to increase, Microsoft and Proximus NXT are jointly developing sovereign cloud solutions that combine Azure capabilities with the local expertise of Proximus Group.

At the core of this approach is Azure Local disconnected operations, which enables organizations to operate autonomous cloud environments that can be disconnected temporarily or permanently from the public cloud, while still benefiting from Azure’s essential services.

These solutions address the needs of organizations facing heightened requirements in terms of sovereignty, security, and service continuity, particularly in sectors such as healthcare, finance, and public administration.

From innovation to implementation: a comprehensive ecosystem for customers

Building on its early participation in the development and validation programs for Azure Local disconnected operations, Proximus NXT now provides an operational test environment enabling organizations to assess these disconnected sovereign cloud solutions. Developed and validated together with Microsoft, this environment is supported in particular by a dedicated test lab in Evere, where customers can practically test these architectures, as well as by the joint presence of Proximus and Microsoft within the Microsoft Innovation Hub in Brussels (Rue Montoyer), where organizations can receive support for their strategic thinking and projects.

Within this Innovation Hub, Microsoft and Proximus co-create with customers through:

• identifying needs and challenges;
• designing tailored solutions;
• developing architecture designs;
• building rapid prototypes; and
• validating them within the Proximus test environment.

This integrated approach enables organizations to move quickly from ideation to concrete, validated use cases.

A transformative partnership across the Group

Beyond local initiatives, this partnership is part of Proximus Group’s strategy to co-develop and commercialize sovereign public and private cloud solutions with Microsoft, leveraging the combined strengths of both organizations.

For Proximus NXT, which aims to offer customers a technology-agnostic sovereign cloud portfolio based on the best Belgian, European, and international technologies, this collaboration is fully aligned with its strategy.

The objective is to enable customers to strengthen control over their data and meet regulatory and sector-specific requirements while benefiting from the flexibility, scalability, and innovation capabilities offered by the cloud.