186 More than any other technology, the widespread adoption of cloud computing services and innovative data storage techniques have eliminated long-standing geographic limitations. However, this brings up a new challenge: Data sovereignty. What is data sovereignty? Data sovereignty applies to the approach organizations take to ensure that digital information is handled appropriately as regulated by the laws of the country where it resides. Data sovereignty is becoming an increasingly important issue as organizations rethink the best way to securely store this data and meet global compliance standards. Why should you prioritize data sovereignty? How big of a concern is it for organizations? How big a concern is data sovereignty for organizations, really? As we saw in our recent survey conducted with Vanson Bourne, 98% of organizations surveyed in the U.S., U.K., Germany and France have either implemented data sovereignty policies or plan to. In fact, concerns over data sovereignty are part of what’s driving more organizations to shift to a hybrid-cloud approach. Here’s the good news: You don’t have to choose between secure, convenient data storage and sovereign data. Why data sovereignty matters when choosing a cloud strategy Your data’s location is an important issue. In many nations, businesses have a legal requirement to locally store customer data, but given how public cloud providers operate and where their servers are situated, this is not as cut-and-dry as it might first appear. In the cloud, a business can store its data in any number of different geographic regions, regardless of where the business itself is based — a fact that complicates data sovereignty. Let’s say you’re a Florida-based organization that uses public cloud servers located in California. Your data may be subject to California-specific regulations such as the CCPA. A company that operates out of the U.S. but chooses a cloud region in the European Union may be subject to the requirements of GDPR. Making matters worse, you cannot rely on cloud vendors to inform you of the regulatory implications of selecting one cloud region over another. They let you select whichever cloud region you want — and it’s up to you to manage the regulatory and legal impact. As more laws and governance structures come into effect around the world, more organizations are paying attention to the issue of sovereign data — and recognizing that going all-in on the public cloud simply isn’t the best choice. The reality is when you put your data into a public cloud, you give up control. Virtues of the on-prem private cloud model Fortunately, there’s an answer to the data sovereignty problem. Having your own private on-premises environment overcomes the challenges posed by data sovereignty — without losing the benefits a public cloud provides. When using an on-premises private cloud, your data is yours and it stays in your data centers. It can only be accessed by you, and you decide whether to share such information with a different department in the same organization or another organization altogether. An on-prem private cloud gives you both more security and more control over your data. Enter unbreakable cloud storage for data centers You don’t have to choose between the advantages of the public cloud and your desire to maintain control or sovereignty over your data. Scality’s unbreakable cloud storage for data centers offers the best of both worlds — the speed and agility of the cloud, plus the security and performance of an on-premises solution. Want to learn more about what an on-premises private cloud can do for your organization? Read my recent article in Enterprise Viewpoint.
