Data centres: Europe’s data guardians

Data sovereignty is now an issue sitting right at the heart of digital businesses across every industry sector.  Gaining clarity on exactly where data is stored and which country’s laws govern this is rapidly moving up the priority list, especially when faced with an uncertain geopolitical and economic climate.  For data centre providers, this presents both an immense operational challenge and a timely opportunity to help organisations navigate through distinctly murky waters.

In the European region, many digital organisations are heavily dependent on cloud-based data services headquartered outside the continent.  The recent spate of announcements on US tariffs, unpredictable trade policies and US laws, such as the CLOUD Act that could enforce America’s hyperscalers to share data with US authorities no matter which country it resides in, are all fuelling concerns over the security, privacy and sovereignty of data.  

The reality is that these factors could leave Europe’s digital economy vulnerable.  It's therefore no wonder leaders are keen to ensure that data belonging to the region’s businesses can be physically stored within European boundaries and protected by European legislation.  

Building a trusted European cloud

The European Union has set a goal that 75 percent of EU companies should use cloud computing services by 2030, as part of its drive to build a strong and resilient digital infrastructure.  

Programmes such as the EU’s Important Projects of Common European Interest on Cloud Infrastructure and Services (IPCEI-CIS), are also a measure of how mission-critical it is to create a self-sufficient European cloud to underpin a more independent digital economy.  This initiative is creating a sovereign cloud campus to secure data under EU regulations, including GDPR, and thus to vastly reduce reliance on US providers. 

In today’s uncertain environment, locally governed data storage facilities are increasingly popular, with specialist European data centre providers actively invested into establishing a European cloud as a foundation for digital growth and innovation.  Global hyperscalers such as Azure and AWS are also rallying to find a way to reassure European customers that their data is safeguarded by local laws.

Data centre providers as strategic advisers

Data centre operators have an essential part in driving the success of Europe’s digital future.  On a basic level, providers can lead the way on hosting resilient infrastructure physically located in the region.  Along with this should come the full assurance to customers that their data falls under local legislation and compliance rules.  

Any data centre provider worth its sort should be poised to answer searching questions from customers on jurisdiction, data residency policies and precisely how data is managed.  Customers expect a partnership approach, with data centre experts providing proactive consultancy and action to help restructure their operations and achieve compliance with rigorous data storage requirements.  

In the future, providers not able to do this will fall short of the long-term trust and alignment that their digital customers are looking for. 

Supporting the needs of digital businesses

Data centre providers have a broad opportunity to support the data storage and sovereignty needs of all business sizes. 

It is too often forgotten that this issue has implications for smaller businesses that do not have access to corporate budgets and resources.  No matter the size, these organisations are required to have clarity and control of their data and this is where a third-party provider can ably step in to provide trusted, transparent and up-to-the-minute advice.

In addition, providers should be sure to offer the right balance of platforms within sovereign data environments to suit individual business needs.  Many companies are choosing to repatriate some or all of their data and workloads away from the public cloud to on-premise servers or private clouds, to provide more control, visibility and certainty about where this data resides.

Rather than a step backwards, cloud repatriation is a logical way of achieving compliance for specific data and workloads and assuring that data is protected from foreign government access. On-premise or sovereign private clouds can also provide the highest levels of security for particularly sensitive data.  By making hybrid models available in sovereign data environments means that data centres can provide complete flexibility without any compromise on performance or security.

Be clear about the details

Whether an organisation works with a cloud provider or not, the responsibility lies with every digital business to be clear about where its data resides, who has access to every component and the relevant governing legislation.  Vague policies are no longer enough to be truly sovereign ready.  Any company falling short of this clarity could be at risk of fines, business disruption and damage to reputation if there is misalignment in the future.

Data centre providers now need to be informed enough to supply these granular details to their customers.  Moreover, as new regulation frameworks, such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), come into effect, infrastructure partners must make sure they offer compliance as a fundamental service and not an add-on.

In this way, every data centre – and each digital business - can make a positive contribution to enable and strengthen Europe’s self-reliant digital economy and the sovereign cloud on which this will be based.