National Cloud – a milestone in digitalisation of the Polish economy

“Our commitment to the National Cloud project is the next stage of digital transformation, which is key to implementing PKO Bank Polski’s strategy of ‘Supporting the development of Poland and Poles’. As the first client of the new company, we want to set an example for other businesses and institutions, showing that business can be successfully developed in the cloud. The increased use of cloud computing is an inevitable global trend. It also applies to Polish companies and public institutions. The sooner and better we prepare local, safe and modern solutions in this area, the more we can benefit both at the level of individual entities and the whole economy,” said Zbigniew Jagiełło, CEO of PKO Bank Polski.

“Digitalisation is one of the key trends of the present technological revolution, which is beginning to decide everything: from the competitiveness of the economy to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, to city management and medical services. Digital services based on modern and local infrastructure mean higher security and lower cost for business and administration. The countries with developed cloud services have seen a fast increase in the technological advancement of the economy,” said Paweł Borys, President of the Polish Development Fund.

The company is to provide comprehensive data storage and processing services in a subscription-based model. It is going to offer IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service) and SaaS (Software as a Service). IaaS is about access to IT infrastructure, particularly computing power and disc space. PaaS relates to provision of a complete IT platform necessary to launch business applications, notably databases (including blockchains), application servers, web servers and advanced analytical tools. SaaS provides access to software installed in the cloud which performs certain business functions, e.g. an office package or a personnel management system.

The National Cloud will also provide support, migration and IT architecture transformation services as well as security services for both entrepreneurs and public institutions. PKO Bank Polski and the Polish Development Fund intend to set up the new company already this year, each taking a 50% stake in it. In Q1 2019, the first IaaS and PaaS services are to be provided to selected strategic clients. In H2 2019, the service will be made available to a wider group of clients in a pilot run. The full offer will be available to all user groups in 2020.

In Poland, about 10% of companies use cloud computing. The European leaders in this area are Scandinavian countries with even 60–70% of businesses using cloud services. This means that the vast majority of services are run and maintained in the cloud. According to global forecasts, the cloud services market is to grow by several dozen percent over the coming years, particularly with regard to IaaS and SaaS services. Countries that have started their local cloud solutions provided by public trust institutions have experienced a double-digit increase in the level of use of this type of services by local entities. In Poland, the spend on cloud services is projected to reach PLN 24 billion over the next five years. It will account for nearly 30% of all expenditure on IT services and software for companies operating in Poland.

“Today we are starting a brand new stage in the digital development of Polish companies. Thanks to our project, they can be assured that the migration of business to the cloud will be in keeping with the requirements of local market regulators. We are going to offer all key integrated IT services available in the clouds of foreign suppliers, including cybersecurity services. However, our data centers and the data themselves will be located in Poland. Cloud services will be carried out in the Polish jurisdiction, taking into account the requirements of individual sectors of the economy and public administration. Our priority is to optimise IT processes and costs and significantly shorten the time our customers need to implement their strategic initiatives related to digitalisation,” said Adam Marciniak, Vice President of PKO Bank Polski responsible for IT.

Most manufacturers in the IT sector are ceasing to develop software in the traditional model, and now make new software versions available in the cloud only. Also, such services have an increasing share in the GDP. Market analysts estimate that by 2020, the value of cloud services in the EU will exceed EUR 40 billion. With access to cloud technologies, firms can launch innovative services. At the same time, by using the National Cloud they will benefit from the synergies which allow IT costs to be optimised across the economy.