Sovereign cloud services are quickly becoming a staple among hyperscalers, experts have told ITPro, after AWS became the latest to provide a sovereign cloud offering in Europe.
AWS announced a €7.8 billion investment into AWS European Sovereign Cloud this week that will be metered out between now and 2040.
The investment will see AWS develop sovereign cloud infrastructure in the German state of Brandenburg, an offering that will be available to all AWS customers by the end of 2025.
The cloud giant described the move as part of a “long-term commitment to meeting Europe’s digital sovereignty needs”, citing a predicted boost to Germany’s GDP. AWS’ cloud strategy, though, is just as important a factor.
Dario Maisto, senior analyst at Forrester, told ITPro that AWS isn’t making any particularly unique headway in the European sovereign cloud space. However, this move will enable it to catch-up with other big name competitors in the space.
“While Oracle is indeed one of the most active players in the sovereign cloud race in EMEA, for this specific AWS investment it is worth noting that Google already launched its Berlin-Brandenburg region in August 2023,” Maisto said.
Oracle, in particular, has made strong headway in cloud sovereignty, with the firm announcing a sovereign European cloud region in 2023.
It’s a market that’s top of mind for Oracle, with CEO Larry Ellison having made public claims that “every government is going to want a sovereign cloud” in the future.
Other providers have also pounced on the demand for sovereign cloud, with Rackspace unveiling a new platform aimed at providing cloud sovereignty services to the UK’s public sector.
Why hyperscalers are rolling out sovereign cloud offerings
AWS’ move forms part of a broader picture in the cloud market, as firms increasingly turn their attention to providing their customers with dedicated, sovereign regions.
“Having sovereign regions is the bare minimum to stay in the game as an increasing geopolitical instability calls for more attention to digital sovereignty in terms of resilience of the infrastructure and trust in cloud vendors and service providers,” Maisto added.
“This, and other moves from AWS and other hyperscalers, provide the hygiene factors to compete in the European market,” Maisto said.
With security and compliance ever-present concerns for hyperscaler customers, the big three cloud providers are being forced to provide sovereignty services to ensure compliance with regional legislation.
AWS’ investment in Germany is a method of solidifying its position in Europe, Maisto said. It needs to make sure that it’s in line with its rivals and not at risk of taking flack from customers for failing to provide options.
In January this year, Microsoft announced that all EU-based cloud customers would be able to store personal data in the region as part of a bid to comply with data sovereignty requirements.
While the move was welcomed, the tech giant drew some criticism for being slow off the mark in this regard.
Speaking to ITPro at the time, Mark Boost, chief executive of Civo, said Microsoft shouldn't necessarily be praised for introducing policies that should've been implemented some time ago.
“For me, and many others operating in this space, data should have always been sovereign,” he said. “The lack of commitment from hyperscaler providers to guarantee this has always been perplexing.”
