According to a survey conducted by “Tagesspiegel Background” German federal states spent more than €191.7 million on Microsoft products in the previous year. The survey gathered cost estimates from ten of the sixteen states.
The data indicates that the average annual cost for these ten states has risen by approximately 16.8% over the past years. Spending in 2021, for comparison, stood at €104.3 million, resulting in an overall increase nearing 84% in just five years.
Among the participating states, North Rhine-Westphalia recorded the largest expenditure, totaling over €180.2 million across the five years. The state’s actual total is reportedly higher, however, as data from its internal department is missing. Lower Saxony followed with €159.1 million, and Baden-Württemberg spent around €110.4 million. Data was not provided by Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Bavaria, or Rhineland-Palatinate.
The states cited several reasons for the increasing costs, including a perceived need for more extensive IT infrastructure than previously required, alongside changes in product licensing models. Specifically, Microsoft is shifting many services to the cloud rather than maintaining them as local installations. Furthermore, rising security requirements and the introduction of new product features have contributed to higher overall prices.
Alexander Britz, who manages Microsoft’s public sector business in Germany, noted that he often finds headlines regarding spending on Microsoft amount to inflated figures. He clarified that these reported sums do not go directly to Microsoft. Instead, Microsoft sells to so-called trade partners-which are IT companies-that subsequently sell to public IT service providers, who are the final purchasers for the states.