Trust advantage through data sovereignty

1. Geopolitical risks and regulation 
   Global players, especially U.S.-based hyperscalers dominate the market. But geopolitical tensions and legal frameworks like GDPR are forcing questions, i.e.: who accesses someone’s data? In the European debate on cloud sovereignty, it’s about more than technology – it’s about control, trust, and risk.
2. Business risks – not just technicalities
   In manufacturing we find concrete examples: a company offering SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) solutions for machine control told us that European customers increasingly demand that their data does not reside on U.S. hyperscalers. Otherwise, they would face risks of lost orders or a massive migration effort. This shows: cloud sovereignty is no longer a theoretical aspect – it affects revenue and growth directly.
3. The business threefold: cost, functionality, sovereignty 
   Many of our customers face a balancing act: they want sovereign cloud solutions but cannot bear exorbitant costs – and they still need highly functional platforms, especially when planning AI applications or global scaling. A sovereign strategy must be secure, practical, and economically viable.
    

T Cloud as a strategic answer for trusted cloud solutions 

• Multi-Cloud with sovereignty: T Cloud combines European infrastructure (e.g., data centers in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland) with hyperscalers like Google, AWS, or Azure. This preserves flexibility while Telekom ensures control and governance.
• Three levels of sovereignty: customers choose the level of sovereignty – data, operations, technology – depending on how sensitive their workloads are.
• Hyperscaler performance with European control: usage of scalable platforms while we (the Telekom) manage operational control, including encryption, identity management, and access controls.
• Security and compliance made in Europe: T Cloud uses GDPR-compliant data centers and implements a Zero-Trust design with around-the-clock monitoring.
• Sustainability and infrastructure: T-Systems operates highly secure data centers in Europe with high certifications standards.

As management consultants, Detecon adds significant value to these initiatives: 

• Exposure and risk analysis: we work with our clients to define which applications and data are especially critical – and which sovereignty strategy provides the best soltuion.
• Value creation: a sovereign cloud should not be seen as a cost center. We quantify the added value in reduced risk, compliance benefits, and strategic independence.
• Proof of Concept (PoC): through technical feasibility studies, we assess whether specific core business processes can be mapped to T Cloud – and how performance and integration effort would be affected.
• Strategic roadmap: we develop a pragmatic migration and operations plan – not a radical departure from existing hyperscalers, but a well-considered addition that preserves flexibility while enabling sovereign options.
   

Four initial steps for decision-makers at European companies

In our experience, this approach shows this approach delivers the best results for our clients:

1. Internal alignment and engagement
   The topic must be discussed at board level to verify whether company-specific cloud exposure has been analyzed for risks.
2. Sovereignty risk assessment
   A detailed analysis of workloads is essential. Which applications are truly sensitive? Where is sovereignty particularly important?
3. Evaluation of alternatives
   Create PoCs to practically test sovereign cloud options. Consider not only costs, but also operation, performance, and integration.
4. Develop a long-term strategy 
   A roadmap that strategically embeds sovereign cloud solutions – not as a replacement, but as an addition, in which multi-cloud solutions and scenarios for different sovereignty levels are considered.
    

Conclusion: rethinking Europe’s digital sovereignty

T Cloud is more than just a new cloud product: it is the building block for Europe’s digital self-determination. For both German and European companies, it offers the chance to connect innovation with control. At Detecon, we treat this as a strategic milestone: we help our clients develop sovereign cloud strategies that minimize risks and generate real business value. This way, cloud is not only a technical standard, but an expression of European strength and independence.