And Pay Close Attention to Sovereign Cloud

Sovereign cloud — a fancy way of defining a cloud environment that lives within a specific region, bound by that geography’s data and privacy regulations — is growing more popular. Organizations in 2023, particularly, will deploy sovereign clouds for reasons noted below. (Note that sovereign cloud is germane to the channel and Oracle Cloud still stands out as the first provider to specifically enable this capability through large managed service providers and other partners.)

“Through 2024, jointly owned sovereignty partnerships sanctioned by regulators will increase stakeholder trust in global cloud brands and facilitate continued IT globalization. Increased awareness among governments and regulators leads to tighter privacy and data protection policies, higher requirements for data sovereignty and data control, and more demand for digital sovereignty, such as through technological control and long-term autonomy. The expectations regarding sovereign cloud solutions are evolving from data sovereignty and privacy concerns to concerns regarding continued, long-term access to and availability of cloud solutions. Regulators and cloud providers will need to work together to clarify the appropriate potential approaches and measures. A jointly owned cloud provider approach between governments and regulators can (re)establish trust among cloud users in global cloud brands and facilitate continued technical globalization.” —Daryl Plummer, vice president, distinguished analyst and Gartner Fellow