By Hans Emmanuel Nedumthakady, Chief Solutions Architect, Cloud Native Computing Practice Area, HPE Advisory and Professional Services
As geopolitics surrounding technology intensifies, organizations are increasingly emphasizing the importance of having full visibility and control over their data stored in public clouds. There is a growing realization that organizations using public cloud services may unintentionally violate data residency laws and regulations. This is due to the ability of large cloud providers to store data across international borders. This concern applies not only to primary data but also to metadata, which is essentially data about data.
One potential solution that has been proposed to tackle these emerging challenges is the concept of the sovereign cloud. The sovereign cloud aims to provide a secure environment where you can have complete control and visibility over your data, thus addressing the concerns around digital sovereignty.
The sovereign cloud
The term "sovereign cloud" refers to a framework that includes a broad range of technologies designed to provide you with control over the storage, processing, and location of your data in the cloud. Unlike traditional cloud models, in a sovereign cloud, you have access to your data and know its location. This also ensures that the cloud provider is unable to use or expatriate the data. Mandatory encryption of data at rest and in transit helps ensure the safety and privacy of customer data.
The sovereign cloud framework can be broken down into three main components: data sovereignty, operational sovereignty, and software sovereignty.
Data sovereignty implies that you retain complete control and knowledge of data location. This means that you control and know the location of their data, and only you can access it. The cloud provider won’t be able to expatriate or use the data for any analytics or their business needs, providing complete privacy and ownership for the customer center.
Operational sovereignty provides visibility into cloud operations, giving you a comprehensive end-to-end view of how your data is stored and accessed. This involves local personnel operating the cloud infrastructure, thereby giving you a sense of control and security over your data.
Software sovereignty guarantees that you can run your workloads wherever and whenever you want without any cloud provider software lock-in. This helps you plan a smooth cloud exit strategy if the need arises. Open clouds are more recommended in sovereign clouds due to their flexibility and adaptability.
HPE’s role in the sovereign cloud market
The sovereign cloud market is growing rapidly. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), global spending on sovereign cloud solutions is projected to reach $258.5 billion by 2027, recording a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.6% throughout the forecast period.
With a long history in the IT industry and a deep understanding of the cloud landscape, HPE offers a comprehensive portfolio of cloud solutions and services, including sovereign cloud solutions.
HPE has a widespread presence across more than 80 countries, demonstrating its global reach and commitment to serving customers worldwide. It has a strong workforce of local delivery personnel and well-established operational procedures that enable it to follow best practices for compliance and security.
HPE's established operational procedures are designed to uphold data sovereignty and security. HPE’s commitment to data control and security aligns with the growing emphasis on digital sovereignty and the protection of sensitive information, making it a reliable choice for entities looking to ensure digital sovereignty.
The emphasis on data sovereignty and protecting customer value has never been more important, given the enormous changes in global and geopolitical circumstances and the expansion of data privacy laws and regulations. As the World Economic Forum rightly stated, "Digital sovereignty refers to the ability to have control over your own digital destiny—the data, hardware and software that you rely on and create."
HPE proposed high-level architecture of sovereign cloud
- We identify the core components of the sovereign cloud in alignment with HPE's commitment to adhering to the open cloud and no vendor lock-in principles of the sovereign cloud.
- HPE proposes the best technology for constructing your sovereign cloud stack, which includes the technical and organizational measures necessary for ensuring compliance.
- It offers a unified self-service cloud portal with multi-tenancy and strong RBAC capabilities.
- The framework includes "as a service" offerings as cloud portal service catalogs.
- CSPs can provide additional PaaS offerings via the service catalog and automation capabilities of the HPE sovereign cloud Framework’s cloud engine and portal.
- It allows the integration of tenant-specific identity providers via SAML 2.0 (BYOI).
- The framework has a modular structure, where the customer (Cloud Service Provider) can select the components for their cloud infrastructure, such as ITSM, ITAM, Monitoring and log collection, IAM, etc.
- It provides a single pane of glass for Software Defined Networking and Software Defined Storage.
- It ensures encryption at rest and encryption in transit for all infrastructure components.
- HPE services plans, designs, and builds a cost-effective, scalable sovereign cloud stack, offering a good user experience and providing a sovereign landing zone.
The sovereign cloud provides a viable solution for entities looking for end-to-end control over their digital assets. As digital sovereignty becomes more crucial in the ever-evolving digital landscape, technologies like sovereign cloud will continue to gain prominence. With companies like HPE leading the way, the future of secure, reliable, and controlled cloud solutions looks promising.
HPE Advisory and Professional Services demonstrate exceptional expertise in the field of sovereign cloud. They offer a comprehensive suite of services aimed at supporting you in your journey toward achieving digital sovereignty. These services range from advisory roles, with strategic guidance on sovereign cloud implementation, to hands-on involvement in planning and deploying sovereign cloud solutions.
HPE Services extend to the integration of multicloud management tools and strategies, giving you the tools necessary to navigate the complexities of a multicloud environment while maintaining control over your digital assets. HPE Advisory and Professional Services also specialize in application modernization and migration. This helps you seamlessly transition your existing applications to a cloud-native environment, facilitating the optimization of processes and improving overall operational efficiency.
HPE Advisory and Professional Services offer a holistic approach to sovereign cloud, providing end-to-end solutions that address the challenges of digital sovereignty in the modern data-driven world.
Hans started his career as a Linux server engineer back in 2010 and has since worked on a variety of private cloud solutions and cloud-native technologies. He has worked on DevOps and development projects; design and implementation of Devops/DevSecOps pipelines; and self-managed Kubernetes clusters.
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