Who are the players?
Public authorities are stressing the importance of digital sovereignty to address the opportunities and vulnerabilities created by the increasing digitization of the defense – and the economy in general. The historical defense industries are market leaders among the defense customers. They have a special relationship with their customers and are able to integrate and manage complex programs, while having an international reach.
Companies from the digital sector (in the broadest sense, including electronics) have been pushing their ambitions in the cybersecurity market for several years, including Defense clients. These companies have several competitive advantages: – a very large customer base on the civilian market (large groups and public administrations); – a position on highly profitable activities (integration, consulting and associated services); – high investment capacities (merger-acquisition policy); – a dedicated partnership policy with start-ups and specialized SMEs as well as incubators, collaborative laboratories, etc. Large companies’ structures are too complex to handle the short innovation cycle required by cybersecurity, which means they need to cooperate with innovative and agile structures (start-ups and SMEs). However, digital companies have an advantage over defense groups in working with these start-ups and SMEs because they are fully integrated into their ecosystem.
The market and its challenges:
Telecommunications operators were able to gradually penetrate the cybersecurity market with their technical and financial resources, offering data security solutions and cloud services. They control information “channels” and their main development strategy is to protect the information passing through them. Acquiring service providers and establishing partnerships with specialized suppliers (system integrators, software publishers and hardware and equipment manufacturers) are the foundation for developing their cybersecurity activities. Acquiring industrial cybersecurity activities allows telecom operators to create or strengthen a new cyber BU. This new business unit can expand the operators’ existing communications offers by integrating cybersecurity solutions and services, or operate directly in the cybersecurity market (dedicated solutions).
Framatome acquired Cyberwatch, a French IT security software company. This deal strengthens Framatome’s position in cybersecurity with a wider portfolio of solutions for government agencies, nuclear companies and other critical industries (energy, defense, transportation).
Orange Cyberdéfense, the French telecommunications giant’s cybersecurity subsidiary with 2,700 employees, recently acquired two Swiss companies, SCRT and Telsys, based in Lausanne. The amount of these operations is not known, but it marks another step in this market for the French company, which is already present in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. The French company Geci International is also the target of an international Chinese company for a global joint venture.
Atos is entering a new stage of discussions with Airbus. Atos’ IT services group received a preliminary offer from Airbus to enter into a long-term strategic and technological partnership and acquire a 29.9% minority stake in Evidian, which specializes in big data, cybersecurity and supercomputers.