Introduction
Organizations are turning to the cloud to grow and improve how they work. With cloud comes faster innovation, improved efficiencies and the ability to monetize your data. As you start to span countries and clouds you may ask yourself. Who owns my data? Where is it being processed? Which laws govern it?
If you work in financial services, healthcare, life sciences or the public sector this question becomes increasingly relevant. Companies will want to understand how they can leverage the power of the cloud while protecting their data from certain jurisdictions and controlling how it operates.
When it comes to adopting cloud you may need to look at sovereign cloud. This can help your organization to meet requirements and continue to evolve your applications and services.
There are many aspects to consider when deciding on sovereign cloud. It is not just about selecting a data center in your country. You should also consider who owns and has access to your provider’s infrastructure and services, encryption, key management and supply chain. How your business can continue to operate if something were to happen to these providers.
In this guide we will look at what sovereign cloud is, why it matters to your business, what you should be aware of and how to begin using it in your cloud adoption journey.
What Is Sovereign Cloud?
A cloud that can satisfy your requirements of where data and services are located, who has control over them and the technologies that support them.
Each organization will have their own definition of what sovereign cloud means to them and which framework they use to judge this. Some may only care that their data is located in a certain country. While others may want it to be operated by people in that country and ensure no outsiders can gain access. Or ensure that the technology used is free from any other jurisdiction.
The European Commission has developed a Cloud Sovereignty Framework covering strategic, legal, jurisdictional, data, AI, operational, supply-chain, technology, security, compliance, and environmental considerations. These areas can inform an organization’s definition of sovereign cloud.
There are three definitions you should know about when discussing sovereign cloud.
- Data residency – the location where data resides.
- Data sovereignty – the requirement around your data and how that affects which country and laws apply to it.
- Digital sovereignty – having control over your technologies and how you operate.
They all work together but you should keep them separate when thinking about your cloud adoption. Your data could be in your home country but still fall under another law or be operated by another company. Understanding your sovereign cloud journey enables you to to decide on these factors.
Why Sovereign Cloud Matters for Cloud Adoption
As you adopt more cloud you will come across more regulations and requirements around your data. You should consider how sovereign cloud can benefit your business when making cloud decisions.
Support Compliance and Customer Contracts
As mentioned above you may be governed by rules that state how certain data can be handled. If your customers require their data to stay within certain borders then you may need to find solutions that can support this.
Sovereign cloud can help you to meet these requirements by ensuring your data is in an approved region. You may also want to consider who has access to your data and who is able to administer it. This can help you decide on your requirements and what your architecture needs to achieve.
You should first understand what requirements apply to you before deciding on how sovereign you need to be.
Strengthen Control Over Sensitive Information
Knowing who can see your data and who has access to your infrastructure is key. There may be administrators from your cloud provider and subcontractors that have access to your data.
By assessing these areas you can ensure your data is safe and secure. Knowing who can administer your infrastructure enables you to to understand what you can trust.
Improve Resilience and Reduce Strategic Dependencies
You want to know that if a cloud provider went out of business you could recover your data and services. Thinking about sovereign cloud enables you to to consider these scenarios and plan for them.
It does not mean that you should always look to own your infrastructure. Just that you know what options are available to you and what those options may entail.
Enable Responsible Innovation
You don’t want sovereign cloud to hold you back from using new technologies and services. If you classify your workloads you can decide which ones you want to keep within certain boundaries.
If you are looking at using AI you may want to know what data you are feeding it and where it will be processed. Understanding sovereign cloud enables you to to make these decisions and continue to progress your business.
Things to Consider When Selecting a Sovereign Cloud
Below are some areas you should be aware of when assessing your provider and sovereign cloud.
Location of Data
As stated you will want to know where your data is located. Not only in the primary database but backups and any other places your data may be held. You should also know what country your provider falls under.
Access to Your Infrastructure
Just because your data is in your home country doesn’t mean the person administering it is. You will want to know who has access to your data and infrastructure and under what circumstances.
There may be requirements that you only want people from a certain area to have access to your data. This could be a local data center or limiting administrator access.
Encryption and Key Management
Ensuring your data is encrypted is important when considering sovereign cloud. But you also want to know who holds those keys. If you want more control over your data you may want to think about separating these out.
Understand the Supply Chain
Your cloud provider will have many parts that go into running their services. From software to hardware and who provides that. You should know what you are signing up for and if that works for your business.
You may not be able to get everything that you want to be under your control. But understanding these things enables you to to make better decisions on what is acceptable to your business.
Audit Data and Services
Once you have your requirements in place you should have a way to prove that they are being met. Whether that is through contracts or audits of your infrastructure. You will also want to know who is accountable for your sovereign cloud.
Sovereign Cloud vs Public, Private and Hybrid
As shown above sovereign cloud does not always mean you have to have your own private cloud. There are ways to meet these requirements using the different types of cloud.
| Cloud model |
Primary focus |
Sovereignty considerations |
| Public cloud |
Scalable, shared cloud services |
May meet sovereignty requirements through suitable regions, service controls, contractual terms, and operational arrangements. |
| Private cloud |
Dedicated infrastructure for one organization |
Can offer greater control over infrastructure and access, but still requires assessment of ownership, jurisdiction, software, and support dependencies. |
| Hybrid cloud |
Combination of private and public environments |
Can place sensitive workloads in more controlled environments while retaining public cloud flexibility for suitable workloads. |
| Sovereign cloud |
Defined requirements for jurisdiction, control, and autonomy |
Can use different underlying deployment models, provided the chosen service meets the organization’s required sovereignty criteria. |
All of these can have sovereign requirements applied to them. Depending on your provider and requirements. You should understand what you need from a cloud provider and what they can provide for you.
Most likely you will want a hybrid solution. Having your most sensitive workloads on a sovereign cloud and the rest on public cloud. As long as you have good practices in place this can work for your organization.
What To Be Aware Of When Using Sovereign Cloud
As with any new technology there will be challenges to overcome. Here are some things to keep in mind when using sovereign cloud.
Scalability
You may find that your sovereign cloud has less capability than other clouds. Make sure you understand what you need from a provider and whether they can meet those requirements.
Costs
Using sovereign cloud can increase your costs. If you decide that every workload needs to be on a sovereign cloud you may find this very expensive. Think about your requirements and how you can best use this technology.
Vendor Lock-In
Similar to above if you choose to have everything on one provider you will create vendor lock-in. You should always try to have portability into your architecture so you can leave if needed.
Security
Having your data in your home country does not mean it is secure. You still need to follow the same security practices as you would with any other cloud.
Skills
As with any new technology you will need people that can support it. Having a mix of skills that understand the legalities, technology and how your business operates enables you to to build your sovereign cloud correctly.
A Practical Roadmap for Sovereign Cloud Adoption
Here are some steps you can take to begin implementing sovereign cloud into your organization.
Know Your Requirements
What do you want to achieve from sovereign cloud? Do you want your data to be in a certain country or are you looking to build more control over your infrastructure? Understand what regulations you fall under and how you can meet them.
Understand Workloads and Data
Classify your workloads to understand what data you have and where it lives. Once you know this you can begin to decide which workloads should live on your sovereign cloud.
Build Requirements
Now you can start to create requirements around your sovereign cloud. What region do you want your data to be in? Do you want certain people to have access to your infrastructure? How do you want to prove that your data is secure?
Research Providers
Once you have your requirements you can begin to research your providers. They should be able to meet your needs and show you how they will. If they cannot then it may be time to look at other options. The European Commission’s Cloud Sovereignty Framework implementation guidance provides a structured approach for assessing cloud services against sovereignty requirements.
Design the Architecture
Plan how you will use your sovereign cloud. Where do you want your workloads to live? How will you move data between your clouds? Build out your security and controls to ensure your data stays protected.
Migrate Workloads
Once you have built your environment begin to migrate workloads to your sovereign cloud. Start small and test that everything works as expected.
Keep Requirements Current
As you use your sovereign cloud you may come across more requirements that you need to meet. Keep up to date with your provider and any changes they may make. You can use metrics to measure your success and update your requirements as needed. Organizations operating in the EU should also monitor the latest status of the European Commission’s Cloud and AI Development Act rather than treating a proposal as final legislation.
How Hexaware Can Support Enterprise Cloud Adoption
Hexaware can support cloud migration and application modernization through the Amaze® platform for cloud transformation, including application assessment and migration planning.
When evaluating sovereign cloud and deployment options, read Top 12 Private and Hybrid Cloud Providers Shaping the Future of Enterprise IT for related discussion of hybrid cloud architectures and data sovereignty considerations.
For broader guidance on enterprise cloud strategy, modernization, governance, and operations, read Why Cloud Transformation Matters Now.
Conclusion
As you can see there are many factors to consider when thinking about sovereign cloud. Not only where your data is but who can access it and what technology is used to support it.
If you want to learn more about how to implement sovereign cloud into your organization follow the steps above. Continue to grow your knowledge on how it can benefit your business.
