– STACKIT, the cloud unit of Schwarz Digits, will provide local data storage for Google Workspace and provide client-side encryption. This creates a secure and confident solution for workplace efficiency with XM Cyber as a complementary security solution.
– The partnership will integrate XM Cyber’s Continuous Exposure Management into Google Cloud’s security portfolio to develop new joint offerings aimed at public and private sector organizations.
– Schwarz Group companies with 575,000 employees will migrate to Google Workspace to maximize security, efficiency and control of their sovereignty.
Google and the Schwarz Group companies today announced plans for a long-term partnership. The strategic partnership will encompass key dimensions of secure and sovereign digital transformation, including collaboration and efficiency solutions and advanced cybersecurity offerings in Germany and Europe.
“For future viability in the digital age, it is crucial to find partners who are really prepared to shape digitalization together,” says Gerd Chrzanowski, general partner of the Schwarz Group. “In Google, we have found a partner who develops joint solutions with us on an equal footing, provides transparent insights and makes clear commitments. We look forward to working with Google to shape the digital transformation in Germany and Europe in a transparent, secure and confident manner.”
“Thanks to the new partnership, Schwarz Group companies will be able to combine their leadership in digital transformation with Google Cloud’s strengths in the areas of productivity, collaboration and security delivered by our cutting-edge AI,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO from Google and Alphabet. “Together, we are opening up a new world of confident opportunities for European organizations to innovate and build on our shared solutions, accelerating a new era of innovation.”
Google Workspace in combination with the Schwarz Digits Cloud STACKIT
The planned partnership will provide secure and sovereign cloud-based collaboration solutions for regulated industries in Germany and Europe, including financial services, healthcare and the public sector. As part of the solution, STACKIT will offer its customers the ability to enable client-side encryption of their Google Workspace data – including sensitive and confidential data in regulated industries – via its own cloud platform, preventing access by third parties, including Google itself becomes. Customers’ data remains within the European Union (EU), with full redundancy ensured by backups hosted exclusively in STACKIT’s European data centers to meet customers’ data protection, data residency and data resiliency requirements.
“In Germany and the EU, there have so far been no cloud collaboration solutions that fully meet the sovereignty requirements of regulated industries. This includes ensuring that all data is secured on local soil without foreign states or platform providers having access to it.” says Rolf Schumann, Co-CEO of Schwarz Digits, the IT and digital division of the Schwarz Group. “Our partnership and offering with Google Cloud will bridge this gap with a completely new business model.”
With client-side encryption enabled, customers have sole control over their encryption keys – and therefore complete control over access to their data. Even Google, as a platform provider, has no access. This not only protects the sovereignty of the Schwarz Group companies, but also of all customers who value the independence of their operations, and gives them full security that their data is always under their control.
Best-in-class offering for comprehensive digital resilience with Google Cloud and XM Cyber
The partnership also includes cooperation in the area of cybersecurity. The goal is to create a solid foundation for cyber readiness and resilience for customers. Initially, Google Cloud’s security solutions will be integrated with those of XM Cyber, Schwarz Digits’ hybrid cloud security company, and the joint offering will be offered via the Google Cloud Marketplace. These advanced security solutions will help German and European organizations, especially those in highly regulated industries, to increase the level of their enterprise and multicloud security. Additionally, XM Cyber’s Continuous Exposure Management will be embedded into the sovereign Google Workspace solution offered to European companies.
“This partnership is a game-changer for regulated industries in Europe by eliminating the sovereignty and security concerns that often hinder more ambitious cloud adoption for productivity and collaboration,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. “Our alliance with the Schwarz Group companies will enable numerous industries in Europe to deliver digital innovations with security and compliance at the core.”
Transforming the global office workplace
The Schwarz Group companies are also pursuing a similar approach when converting their global office workstations to Google Workspace. This ensures that critical workplace data is protected from access by third parties, including foreign government institutions, and can be transferred to alternative service providers if necessary.
“For us, the switch to Google Workspace is an important step away from our previous solution towards innovative, efficient and future-proof cloud-based collaboration,” says Christian Müller, Co-CEO of Schwarz Digits. “Google Workspace is the most secure and reliable productivity platform in the industry today, and we expect our group-wide transition to deliver significant benefits across all areas of our operations – from simplifying IT management to making our point-of-work workflows significantly more efficient. Sale.”
More information
For more information about Schwarz Digits, see www.schwarz-digits.de/presse. Further information about the Schwarz Group companies can be found at www.gruppe.schwarz.
About the Schwarz Group
The Schwarz Group is a leading international trading group with around 13,900 branches and 575,000 employees in 32 countries. In the 2023 financial year, the Schwarz Group companies generated total sales of 167.2 billion euros. With their unique ecosystem, they cover the entire value chain: from production and trade to recycling and digitalization. They create solutions that make the lives of billions of people more sustainable, healthier and safer today and in the future – they act ahead.
Lidl and Kaufland form the pillars of the food retail sector and are an integral part of the everyday lives of 7.2 billion customers. Many own-brand products and sustainable packaging on their shelves come directly from Schwarz production. The environmental service provider PreZero promotes a functioning circular economy with its recycling management and thus invests in a clean future. As an IT and digital division, Schwarz Digits offers convincing digital products and services that meet the high German data protection standards and thus guarantees the greatest possible digital sovereignty. As a partner-based service provider, Schwarz Corporate Solutions supports the companies of the Schwarz Group on all issues ranging from administration and human resources to operational activities.
About Black Digits
Schwarz Digits is the IT and digital division of the Schwarz Group. It offers convincing digital products and services that meet the high German data protection standards. Schwarz Digits thus guarantees the greatest possible digital sovereignty. With this claim, Schwarz Digits provides the IT infrastructure and solutions for the extensive ecosystem of the Schwarz Group companies and further develops it for the future. Schwarz Digits creates optimal conditions for the development of groundbreaking innovations for end customers, companies and public sector organizations. Schwarz Digits includes 7,500 employees from the brands Schwarz IT, Schwarz Digital, STACKIT, XM Cyber, Lidl e-commerce, Kaufland e-commerce, Schwarz Media and mmmake.
Via Google
Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it widely accessible and usable. This also includes developing artificial intelligence ambitiously, responsibly and in collaboration with others so that everyone can benefit from it. With products like Google Search, Maps, Gmail, Chrome, Gemini, Pixel smartphones and watches or platforms like YouTube, Google plays an important role in the daily lives of billions of people. Google has been represented in Germany since 2001 and now employs more than 2,500 people at four locations in Hamburg, Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt. Together with local partners, Google Germany is working on numerous digitization projects, for example in the areas of education, trade, infrastructure, climate protection and data protection. At the Google Safety Engineering Center (GSEC) in Munich, Google develops data protection applications for the entire world. And with communications solutions, a cloud data center near Frankfurt and two cloud regions with a focus on increased efficiency and sustainability, Google supports companies in Germany in their digital transformation. Google is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.
Via Google Cloud
Google Cloud is the new path to the cloud, offering AI, infrastructure, developer, data, security and collaboration tools designed for today and the future. Google Cloud delivers a powerful, fully integrated and optimized AI stack with its own global infrastructure, custom chips, generative AI models and development platform, and AI-powered applications that help businesses transform. Customers in more than 200 countries and regions rely on Google Cloud as their trusted technology partner.