Cloud, infrastructure management, DevOps

The Group's businesses have evolved in step with the continuous development of infrastructure solutions. In addition to traditional architectures, there is now a growing use of different forms of cloud (public, private, hybrid, multi-cloud, SaaS, etc.).

Use cases for the public cloud are gradually taking shape:

• for their new developments ("cloud native"), major accounts take advantage of the functional richness of the dozens of services offered by the major public cloud players (e.g. managed databases);
• start-ups and certain technology companies with no IT heritage (and therefore "digital natives") naturally prefer the public cloud;
• applications subject to peak loads (e-commerce, video streaming, etc.) are also natural candidates for the public cloud;
• development and test environments, characterized by non-critical workloads, lend themselves particularly well to public cloud pay-per-use models;
• an international presence that favors the use of global platforms with data centers on several continents;
• more broadly speaking, outsourcing infrastructures enables us to reduce capital expenditure (from Capex to Opex) and consequently limit the resources dedicated to managing them.

At the same time, major accounts are continuing to automate their private clouds, which still host the majority of their applications. Next-generation infrastructures (PaaS — Platform as a Service) now offer functionalities comparable to those of the public cloud, notably through automated resource allocation (API — Application Programming Interface) and the use of integrated management platforms (CMP — Cloud Management Platform).

Against this backdrop, companies such as banks, insurance companies and digital platforms, which are constantly developing new applications, are making widespread use of DevOps chains, integrating development environments, software industrialization, continuous deployment, automation and containerization.

Finally, SaaS solutions continue to make headway, transferring the management of infrastructure and security issues to software publishers.

They naturally accompany market expansion.

Group services

i) Public cloud

Support for migration to the public cloud is a significant activity, structured around several stages:

• an in-depth analysis of application assets, aimed at assessing the eligibility of applications and avoiding inefficient migrations (such as transferring virtual machines in their original state); this phase often leads to the rationalization or redesign of certain applications;
• preparation of the "landing zone", corresponding to the target environment for applications and data.

Once the migration has been completed, the services provided include cost optimization (FinOps) invoiced by public cloud providers, and above all managed services, although the volume is still lower than in private environments.

ii) Private cloud

The automation of private clouds is also a key focus area, with initiatives covering:

• automated deployments and infrastructure orchestration;
• self-service services;
• the design of virtualized, fully software-driven architectures;
• integration of containerization solutions.

The Group also operates its own private cloud infrastructures, offering integrated services including hosting, resources and operation. This model is based on partnerships with data center operators, the acquisition of equipment, and optimization and security measures.

As such, the cloud operated by a specialized subsidiary benefits from the "SecNumCloud" qualification issued by the competent national authority (Agence Nationale de la Sécurité des Systèmes d'Information — ANSSI), attesting to a high level of security and sovereignty, and granted to less than half a dozen service providers.

The group's private clouds are also certified for healthcare data hosting (HDH).

iii) Specialized services

In addition to the above, NEURONES offers on-site or remote access to all the skills required for IT operations and production: pilots, operations analysts (support, piloting, preparation), production engineers, systems engineers, production project managers, datacenter architects and PMO (Project Management Office) profiles. These specialists master Unix and Windows, the market's schedulers, supervision tools and backup tools. Good integration of applications in operation (fine-tuning of processes and controls, documentation) and efficient change management remain the key success factors.

Recurrent infrastructure management is offered in a variety of forms: simple technical assistance missions (single or grouped), full operation with project management and service level commitments. Services are provided either on-site, remotely from the Group's service centers, or in hybrid mode (on-site and remote).

Artificial intelligence activities:

• Management of the internal multi-LLM technical platform for  generating customized wizards.
• Development of AI assistants with key users.
• Rental of GPUs installed in the SecNumCloud platform.
• Testing and integrating AI engines in predictive analytics computer operations..

NEURONES' strenghts:

• Extensive experience in managed service contracts with a commitment to results. 
• Large-scale operation of its own private clouds. 
• Partnership with the main players in Cloud technologies (Azure, AWS, WMware, Docker, Kubernetes, etc.).