Switzerland publishes up to CHF 7bn government cloud tender

Switzerland's government has published a tender worth up to CHF 7 billion ($8.5bn) to build the Swiss Government Cloud, replacing a public cloud it says is nearing the end of its lifecycle.

Two public-cloud tiers are each capped at CHF 2 billion ($2.4bn), and the private award at CHF 3 billion ($3.6bn), across five awards. Four awards cover the first and second public-cloud tiers, and one covers the private, on-premises tier. Implementation is budgeted separately at an estimated CHF 319.4 million ($389m). Bidders face a 60-day prequalification phase before they can apply, and individual tenders are expected to be awarded in summer 2027, Data Center Dynamics reported on Oct. 23.

For allocators with DACH technology exposure, the split of public-cloud work across four awards means no single award covers the full CHF 4 billion public-cloud pool. The CHF 3 billion private, on-premises award is the largest single lot. The tender follows criticism of the government's 2022 cloud awards to Microsoft, IBM and Alibaba, as ICTjournal reported, and regulations adopted two years later specifying a preference for platforms built on open-source software. The list of qualified bidders after the 60-day prequalification will be the earliest concrete evidence of how that preference shapes the vendor field.