Achieving true digital sovereignty requires resilient interconnection
The desire for digital sovereignty has become more prevalent over the last decade. Organizations, individuals, and states are seeking to operate independently in the digital world without being dependent on individual technology providers.
As the World Economic Forum highlights, "digital sovereignty, cyber sovereignty, technological sovereignty, and data sovereignty refer to the ability to have control over your own digital destiny – the data, hardware and software that you rely on and create."
Digital sovereignty is gaining particular attention in Europe, where concerns about data privacy are leading to calls for greater controls and transparency around the cloud services and infrastructure used by businesses. This push for data sovereignty has compelled European businesses to invest in sovereign cloud, according to an IDC infobrief.
The popularity of sovereign cloud
The IDC report reveals security and compliance are the most important factors organizations consider when selecting a cloud platform for migrating and modernizing their applications. A massive 84% of the European organizations that use cloud services are either already using sovereign cloud solutions, or are planning to do so in the near future.
So what exactly is a sovereign cloud?
A sovereign cloud is a cloud environment that stores a business’s data on servers that are located within specific geographic borders. This means data is hosted in compliance with local laws and is protected from foreign access.
While most businesses implement sovereign cloud solutions to improve overall cybersecurity and regulatory compliance, this type of cloud environment can also bring greater resilience in times of heightened economic and geopolitical uncertainty. Almost a fifth (19%) of organizations cite this type of resilience as their main reason for seeking sovereign cloud solutions.
The IDC asked organizations which partner types they currently prefer for cloud projects, and ‘a sovereign cloud provider’ was the top answer.
- 32% would choose to work with a sovereign cloud provider
- 24% would prefer a software vendor
- 21% would select a global cloud provider
- 18% would look for a managed cloud-services provider
It’s little surprise, therefore, that global spending on sovereign cloud technologies is predicted to exceed $250 billion in 2027.
The importance of sovereign cloud connectivity
According to IDC, the sovereign cloud market is composed of three key technology segments:
- Data sovereignty: Solutions to secure data not only at rest but also in transit.
- Technical sovereignty: The infrastructure needed to support sovereign clouds.
- Operational sovereignty: Multiple functional technology submarkets including network equipment.
Network interconnectivity plays a vital part in all of these segments. It’s not enough just to know that data stored in the cloud remains within geographic borders. Businesses also need to control the paths along which that data flows when it moves to, from, and between different sovereign cloud environments.
Ideally, organizations that use a sovereign-cloud setup will also use private connections that bypass the public Internet, so they can route traffic directly and securely between clouds without unpredictable detours along unreliable pathways. With robust cloud-to-cloud connectivity, they can route data between sovereign cloud environments within a metro region or even within a single data center.
In addition to increased control over data pathways, direct, private interconnection also delivers lower latency, guaranteed bandwidth, and increased protection against cyber-attacks. It will help businesses to comply with European regulations like the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), the Network and Information Systems (NIS) 2, and the voluntary EU Cybersecurity Certification Scheme for Cloud Services (EUCS), as well security schemes in individual markets such as SecNumCloud in France and C5 in Germany.
To find out more about how enterprises are prioritizing resilient connectivity in the pursuit of data sovereignty, take a look at the IDC infobrief, How Connectivity Will Help Enable the Top IT Trends.