An inter-municipality IT department prepares a hosting tender for the institutional website, staff extranet and a line-of-business app. OVHcloud naturally makes the shortlist: French provider, Roubaix and Gravelines data centres, HDS available, competitive pricing. The deputy director summarises: "It's European, it's well known — let's approve."
Three months later, the integrator finds the chosen product is outside the HDS scope and object backups land in a region not specified in the tender. The contract was not "bad" — it was badly scoped.
Why OVHcloud attracts local authorities
OVHcloud combines rare strengths on the French market:
- Major French and EU data centre presence
- Catalogue from shared hosting to cloud — one authority can host brochure sites and heavier workloads with the same vendor
- HDS certification on some offers
- French-speaking 24/7 support (quality varies by product)
- Public pricing easing tender justification
In our directory, OVHcloud scores high on sovereignty (9/10) and 8.7/10 overall. That does not automatically satisfy your tender — it is a signal to test against real needs.
| Authority need | Often cited OVHcloud offer | Watch point |
|---|---|---|
| Brochure site | Web hosting / Perso Pro | Shared tier outside HDS |
| Line-of-business app | Public Cloud, VPS | Certified scope to verify |
| Health data | Certified Hosted Private Cloud | Full stack (DB, backups) |
| Strong sovereignty | SecNumCloud on some offers | Budget and complexity |
Choosing OVHcloud for a local authority means choosing the right SKU first — not the brand.
Questions to ask before and during procurement
1. Which exact product? Public Cloud, Private Cloud, shared, dedicated — obligations and certifications differ.
2. Where are data, logs and backups? Require documented France or EU region — not a generic mention.
3. Which HDS or ISO 27001 scope? Request current attestation and expiry. Read the annex.
4. Who administers? Authority, integrator, MSP? OVHcloud remains IaaS/PaaS on many offers — security responsibility is shared.
5. Reversibility and exit? Export format, timeline, egress cost — critical at contract end.
6. Support and on-call. What level for a Friday night incident? Shared SLA is not enterprise cloud SLA.
7. Sub-processors. CDN, anti-DDoS, monitoring: full chain for GDPR register and DPA.
For compliance framing, cross-read GDPR, HDS, SecNumCloud and OVHcloud ISO 27001 scope.
OVHcloud vs public-sector alternatives
| Provider | Strength | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| OVHcloud | Catalogue, price, FR presence | Catalogue complexity, uneven support |
| Cloud Temple | SecNumCloud, trusted cloud | Budget, no shared hosting |
| 3DS Outscale | Sovereign cloud | Learning curve |
| Infomaniak | Ethics, Switzerland | No HDS, different jurisdiction |
No row wins alone. A 5,000-resident town hall does not share constraints with a public hospital or departmental shared IT.
Common public procurement mistakes
- Mixing website hosting and sensitive data on the same uncertified offer.
- Forgetting backups in contractual scope.
- Underestimating cloud egress at contract exit.
- Keeping shared hosting when security requires VPS or cloud.
- Skipping restore tests before acceptance.
The crux: a French logo is not enough for the tender
Decide and move forward without blind spots
Draft the specification from the most plausible incident (site outage, breach, contract end). Open the OVHcloud profile, list two candidate products, request attestations and DPA. Compare an alternative via the comparator and guides. Validate with procurement and, for health data, your internal HDS lead.
Frequently asked questions
Is OVHcloud suitable for French public sector?
Yes for many projects, thanks to French presence, a wide catalogue and HDS-certified offers. Fit depends on exact product, certified scope and tender requirements — not the brand alone.
Is all of OVHcloud HDS-certified?
No. HDS covers a defined scope. Check the attestation for the chosen offer and map your architecture to it.
Do town halls need SecNumCloud?
Not always. SecNumCloud targets sensitive data categories and organisations. Some authorities require it; others need solid EU hosting with a strong DPA.
What to ask before procurement?
Data and backup location, HDS/ISO scope, reversibility, support SLA, sub-processors, and public procurement documents (insurance, references, DPA).
A local authority does not choose OVHcloud — it chooses a documented OVHcloud product, or it reopens the tender.