The Belgian Federal Public Service of Foreign Affairs (FPS FA) has signed a new agreement with Orange Business Services to transform its global communications infrastructure. The renewed and expanded contract overhauls network, security and application infrastructure across 118 locations in 87 countries. Additional network resilience is supported through fully integrated satellite services. The solutions will help deliver the high level of performance, resilience and security required by diplomatic staff to support Belgium’s interests and citizens abroad.
The new solutions support the Ministry’s cloud migration to Office 365 and its requirement to centralise critical data in Belgium. Flexible SD-WAN will ensure network and cloud connectivity with strong security and application optimisation. Flexibility is guaranteed with Universal CPEs deployed at sites for virtualised services, with satellite being a natural extension for remote locations. There will also be a refresh of the wireless and LAN infrastructures in all locations, and managed security will be provided both at the network level and within the cloud.
The agreement includes an annual innovation fund of €800,000 for projects to help the Belgian Ministry stay at the forefront of technology development. The first of many co-innovation projects focuses on Master Data Management led by the Orange company Business and Decision.
Workspace of the future
As part of the managed Office 365 solution, Orange Business Services will also provide services on a unified communications solution based on Microsoft Teams to help deliver the workspace of the future for its diplomats. This involves the migration of all its sites to the new system, along with the provision of Direct Routing and Business Talk, which will help to significantly reduce calling expenses.
The Flexible SD-WAN solution using Universal CPEs based at the remote sites provides network function virtualisation (NFV). The technology gives the Ministry agility to install and manage network functions remotely, which is a clear advantage considering challenges to deploy network equipment in all parts of the world.
A decade of trusted partnership
Orange Business Services began supporting the Belgian Federal Public Service of Foreign Affairs over a decade ago in 2008. In 2015, Orange Business Services was chosen to secure mobile devices access to messaging systems, applications and data to prevent data loss and theft. It was a key first step in creating a secure mobile workspace as part of the Digital Transformation of the Ministry.
“Our partnership with Orange Business Services is the embodiment of a long-term vision strategy for the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that is centered around security, agility and innovation. Orange proved to be the perfect partner to modernise our infrastructure and with the Innovation Fund, we will make sure that our organisation is agile and swift enough to serve our organisation’s needs today and tomorrow,” said Philip Dumortier, ICT Director, Belgian Federal Public Service of Foreign Affairs.
“This new agreement is a key step in furthering the transformation of the Belgian FPS FA. Orange has extended knowledge in this field serving tens of different Ministries of Foreign Affairs worldwide. We are incredibly excited to continue this partnership with a focus on innovation to help deepen our expertise as the best partner to protect data of Belgian officials and citizens abroad,” said Fabrice de Windt, Senior Vice President, Europe, Orange Business Services.
