A sovereign cloud is not a new notion. Due to a shifting geopolitical environment and new laws that impact data control, it has recently become a hot topic. In a nutshell, the sovereign cloud offers a clever answer to a global conflict over digital sovereignty. First, let’s delve a little deeper.
The need for digital sovereignty is what is driving the movement to give cloud sovereignty. This is all about the data: who controls it, where it resides, and where it flows. These inquiries are crucial in the modern data economy, where data is power. Cloud services inevitably receive attention as they serve as the digital economy’s driving force.
Sovereign Cloud = Data Sovereignty:
The GDPR -General Data Protection Regulation offers extensive demands for firms that collect & process the personal information of individuals in the EU, was passed by the European Union (EU), which has taken the lead in the last ten years in the adoption of data privacy legislation.
When it comes to securing their residents’ most important assets, data, policy organizations & governments worldwide have been spurred on by the rapid uptake of the cloud and laws like GDPR.
The definition and applicability of data sovereignty can differ by area, and the subject itself is complex. However, a key component of data sovereignty is giving groups and people more power over their data. Although it’s frequently treated as a single topic, data sovereignty can be attained in various ways.
There is no recognized or utilized meaning of sovereign cloud within the sector. But at its core, it’s about data—its possession, management, adherence to legal requirements, and national interests. Why?
A sovereign cloud guarantees that all data, including information, remains on sovereign territory and, in all cases, forbids foreign access to data. It offers a secure setting for processing and storing data bound to one state and can never be moved across boundaries.
Protecting and maximizing the worth of crucial data is really what the sovereign cloud is all about. In the developing multi-cloud environment, sovereign clouds are proven, mature solutions. They also offer all the other fundamental advantages of the cloud, including automation, security, and speed.
Oracle Sovereign Cloud Solutions:
Oracle Sovereign Cloud Regions satisfy rigorous data residency, security, and latency standards. Oracle Cloud enables customers with sovereignty needs to operate workloads while providing an industry-leading price-performance ratio and greatly decreased operational expenses. These independent states provide “Everything Everywhere,” the same online services as our other OCI areas.
Let’s now examine Oracle’s dedicated cloud offerings, which allow customers to run full cloud regions in-house in their chosen data center. These choices can benefit clients who live in areas where Oracle doesn’t yet have a public cloud region accessible or who need a specialized answer due to their organization’s specific needs regarding data sovereignty.
Dedicated Region: Designed for clients who want a full OCI region in their individual data center with the flexibility, scaling, and cost-effectiveness of OCI public cloud.
Isolated Region: Designed for clients who require a tried-and-true cloud infrastructure for their top-secret, confidential workloads.
Alloy: With a complete suite of cloud services, Alloy enables users who want to start offering cloud services to grow their businesses.
Oracle Sovereign Cloud for National Security:
Oracle National Security Regions (ONSRs), which combine all of the above-said options, enable Oracle Cloud to connect to secure government networks and support highly sensitive workloads, customer accreditations, and compliance standards that go beyond those of internet-connected sovereign cloud regions. Using high-availability systems implemented in multi-region setups, ONSRs are intended to guarantee mission continuity.
Air-gapped, highly secure data centers: An ONSR is air-gapped from the internet and installed in buildings constructed under government specs, meeting or exceeding government standards. The fastest time to the task is made possible by Oracle’s expertise in creating secure data centers.
Operations in secure facilities: Residents who hold customer-specific security authorization run and assist ONSRs. To ensure redundant, independent continuity of operations for the most crucial tasks, operations are carried out from isolated, highly secure, devoted centres that are physically situated within the customer’s chosen location.
Government accreditation: ONSRs can be accredited per the strictest categories and guidelines. The same services are provided by ONSRs and Oracle’s public cloud areas.
Oracle Sovereign Cloud Deployments:
Oracle expands its area rollout choices to accommodate customer and governmental demands for sovereignty. Companies have control over the positioning of their deployments, as well as their operations, support, compliance, and internet bandwidth.
Customers can start with a modest initial footprint and take advantage of the complete functionality of Oracle Cloud while also satisfying their strict security, compliance, and sovereignty requirements by combining these choices around a central implementation.
Let’s segment the cloud deployment models offered by Oracle:
Commercial public cloud: Currently provides 41 cloud areas across 22 nations, with more to follow. OCI has two or more cloud areas in ten nations and across the EU, enabling availability in a catastrophe without letting data leave these boundaries. Many businesses working in these areas can accomplish their data residency and availability criteria by running cloud applications locally.
European Union Sovereign Cloud: Oracle’s new EU Sovereign Cloud regions, which will debut in 2023 with data centers in Spain and Germany, are logically and physically distinct from the region’s current Oracle business cloud offerings.
These new EU Sovereign Cloud regions can be used by both private businesses and public sector institutions to house confidential, controlled, or strategically significant regional data and apps. Oracle also offers you to customize your cloud to meet the sovereign cloud needs.
Choice of location: Customers have the option to choose the location where their data is stored. Oracle’s ability to implement cloud services within a limited initial footprint allows regions to be created where the customer chooses—in an Oracle-sourced colocation, a location designated by the customer, or even in the customer’s data centre, giving control over data residency.
Access limitations: Customers have full authority over their cloud surroundings. Tenancies within a sovereign cloud may be restricted to a particular business, region, or entity, such as government offices and departments, regulation-sensitive organisations in the defence industry, or other groups designated by the client, depending on the deployment choices.
Operations and support teams: Sovereign operations and support may be limited to local employees and may be subject to extra, legally mandated citizenship, residency, or security clearance requirements.
Regulations: Sovereign areas might have to adhere to regulations, security standards, or accountability standards that are unique to their customers. Oracle gives users the tools they need to put the necessary rules in place and earn their own safety accreditations.
Dedicated Network Connectivity: Connectivity to the public internet is necessary for the majority of deployments of autonomous clouds. However, for some government clients air-gapped areas offer total seclusion from the internet, enabling the client to satisfy their security needs.
Oracle Sovereign Cloud – A Boost for Digitalization:
Above all, digital sovereignty refers to the freedom of states, organizations, and individuals to govern their data and digital autonomy. The linked “highways” of the sovereign cloud infrastructure are essential for maximizing the potential of data-driven economies and fostering societal creativity through digital technologies.
Digital ecosystems must thrive through cooperation and unrestricted access to data centers that share a shared architecture. For many clients, Oracle’s business public cloud regions are more than enough to satisfy their requirements for data sovereignty, including the need to select the location of their data.
The enhanced data sovereignty choices from Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud/anyone of the specialized cloud services can help you move more quickly towards a cloud-first approach if you work in a highly regulated industry or for a company subject to national legislation.
The Oracle sovereign cloud is evolving into an essential factor of cloud users’ multi-cloud ecosystems. Want to take a closer look at Oracle Sovereign Cloud solutions? Reach out to Doyensys!
