Cloud sovereignty requires more than just the right location
In the first instalments of this blog series, we looked at why digital sovereignty is becoming increasingly important for businesses and why the discussion is shifting from ‘Cloud First’ to ‘Sovereignty First’.
Cloud sovereignty is often reduced to the location of data centres, yet the issue goes much further than that. What matters is not only the country in which the data is stored, but also the legal framework applicable to the business, the dependencies on technology providers, and how flexibly businesses will be able to move their applications and data in the future. Businesses must therefore consider technical, regulatory and strategic aspects together.
Open standards enhance freedom of action
A key component of digital sovereignty is avoiding unnecessary vendor lock-in. Cloud platforms based on open technologies such as OpenStack and Kubernetes enable companies to operate and further develop their applications and workloads more flexibly. Open standards promote portability and lay the foundation for making technical decisions independently in the long term. At the same time, companies remain compatible with modern automation and DevOps concepts. Digital sovereignty therefore does not mean foregoing innovation, but rather the ability to utilise innovation without unnecessary dependencies.
The path to a sovereign cloud often begins with the modernisation of existing infrastructure
Many companies and organisations are currently facing the challenge of realigning their existing virtualisation and data centre landscapes. In particular, recent changes in the virtualisation market are leading companies to review their infrastructure strategies and evaluate new options.
A structured migration approach helps to minimise risks whilst building a future-proof architecture. Successful projects typically begin with an assessment of existing systems and applications. The target architecture, migration path and operating model are then defined before the step-by-step transformation takes place. Automation, Infrastructure-as-Code and standardised landing zones are becoming increasingly important in this context. Many organisations rely on experienced partners who are familiar with both traditional infrastructure environments and modern cloud architectures, and who can take into account the specific requirements of regulated environments.
However, the real added value lies not solely in the migration itself. Rather, it opens up the opportunity to modernise operating models, standardise processes and lay the foundations for future innovation.
Enterprise service platforms as building blocks of digital sovereignty
The issue of sovereignty becomes particularly relevant when it comes to business-critical platforms for IT, enterprise, HR or customer service processes. Many companies rely on established platforms such as ServiceNow in this area. At the same time, requirements regarding compliance, data protection and regulatory traceability are increasing. The good news is that modern service platforms and digital sovereignty are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, new operating models are currently emerging that combine the functionality of globally established platforms with the requirements for European data sovereignty.
One example of this is solutions that combine the capabilities of ServiceNow with a sovereign European cloud infrastructure. The partnership between Materna and STACKIT enables operating models that support high standards of data protection, compliance and digital sovereignty. Clients benefit from a high-performance cloud platform with data storage in Europe, as well as greater transparency and control over business-critical applications and data. For public sector clients, regulated industries and KRITIS organisations in particular, this opens up additional scope for manoeuvre when implementing modern cloud strategies.
In practice, however, it is clear that technology alone does not determine success. Equally important are a deep understanding of the underlying processes and experience in the roll-out, integration and operation of such platforms within demanding regulatory frameworks.
Sovereignty as an ongoing transformation task
Digital sovereignty is not a one-off project. It is evolving into an ongoing management task that interlinks technology decisions, compliance requirements and business strategies.
Companies that rely today on open architectures, flexible operating models and sovereign cloud platforms are creating the necessary scope for action to cope with future regulatory and technological changes. The focus is thus shifting from the question of whether cloud usage is possible to the question of how it can be managed in a controlled, secure and future-proof manner.
Cloud sovereignty in everyday practice
The debate on digital sovereignty is increasingly reaching the operational level. Following the strategic realignment of many cloud strategies, the focus is now on concrete implementation. Open standards, sovereign cloud infrastructures and suitable operating models offer organisations the opportunity to combine regulatory requirements with the capacity for innovation. A holistic view of infrastructure, platforms and processes is crucial here. Only in this way can digital sovereignty be achieved – not just on paper, but in everyday practice.
Further articles in this series:
Part 1: Cloud sovereignty – a key success factor for modern IT and enterprise service platforms
Part 2: From ‘Cloud First’ to ‘Sovereignty First’: The rules of the cloud are changing
Further information
ServiceNow
STACKIT and Materna
