Why the AWS European Sovereign Cloud could be a game changer

In view of increasingly stringent and complex compliance and security requirements, the IT of the future will have to meet high standards in terms of the protection and security of data. The geopolitical situation in recent years has further exacerbated these challenges, as issues such as data sovereignty and digital independence have increasingly come to the fore. Digital sovereignty has also become a key issue for adesso. Our work therefore aims to secure and expand this for our customers.

Until now, companies have been faced with a choice: either forego the advantages of a large, global cloud platform and rely on the limited scope of services offered by a regional provider, or accept potential compliance risks in order to benefit from the technological capabilities of a large hyperscaler. This blog post explains why the AWS European Sovereign Cloud can be a solution here and how adesso can support you in implementing your compliance requirements.

AWS – The global market leader

Since its founding in 2006, Amazon Web Services has fundamentally shaped the cloud computing landscape. What began as an internal service for Amazon's own infrastructure has developed into the world's leading cloud provider.

In 2014, AWS opened the Frankfurt region, one of the most successful AWS regions outside the United States. Even then, AWS was already initiating a paradigm shift in the European cloud landscape. Thanks to its location in Germany, many companies were able to meet not only the high data protection requirements of the EU, but also the requirements of German companies, while at the same time benefiting from the many advantages of a global hyperscaler.

With the announcement of the ‘AWS European Sovereign Cloud’ in October 2023, almost ten years after the opening of the AWS Frankfurt region, Amazon Web Services has set another milestone for secure and data protection-compliant cloud environments.

Why is the AWS European Sovereign Cloud needed?

Although all AWS regions are built and operated according to the ‘Sovereign by Design’ principle, there are still organisations in the EU, and especially in German-speaking countries, that have concerns about using the cloud. Often, the influence of foreign laws, which has not been conclusively clarified, is seen as an obstacle.

AWS European Sovereign Cloud – the solution?

The AWS European Sovereign Cloud now offers precisely this possibility: the performance of a large cloud platform combined with European implementation.

AWS is based on the principle that true data sovereignty means not only technical isolation, but also organisational, legal and operational independence from processes and influences outside the European Union.

This is what the AWS European Sovereign Cloud offers:

Physical and logical separation

The AWS European Sovereign Cloud is operated in its own, completely separate partition and thus represents an independent cloud environment. AWS has already gained experience in operating independent cloud environments with the separate AWS US Gov Cloud and the AWS regions in China.

Operational independence under EU control: All operational activities in the European Sovereign Cloud are carried out exclusively by persons with EU citizenship within the EU. This includes administration, maintenance, support, access control and monitoring.

The organisational structure is designed so that all decisions are made within the EU. It consists of a German holding company and German subsidiaries.

Scope of services

The AWS European Sovereign Cloud offers almost the same scope of services as the other regions. In addition to the services provided, this also includes the extensive compliance certifications that AWS is striving for with the European Sovereign Cloud.

In addition, the AWS European Sovereign Cloud offers the possibility of using a wide range of AI services under particularly high data sovereignty requirements.

The AWS European Sovereign Cloud thus combines the best of both worlds. It combines the performance, security mechanisms, certifications and innovative strength of a global hyperscaler with the regional organisational structure of a European cloud provider.

AWS European Sovereign Cloud and adesso

As one of the first ‘AWS Digital Sovereignty Partners’ worldwide, adesso has a unique combination of technical excellence and regulatory expertise. adesso is a long-standing AWS partner with over 280 certified AWS professionals. Thanks to our long-standing partnership and our connections in the AWS community, we have direct contacts with AWS decision-makers.

In addition to over 15 years of experience in AWS technologies, adesso also has extensive expertise in the areas of compliance and security. This enables us to solve technical challenges and provide competent advice on all regulatory and compliance issues.