In an increasingly uncertain world, critical data needs to be secured better than ever. Sovereign Cloud is the solution

29 Apr 2025

For a number of years, we've taken for granted that our data infrastructure is safe in the cloud, typically with large hyperscaler providers who adapt their offerings to suit all needs.

However, in today's environment of security and economics, the approach to the cloud is changing. The needs and conditions are different today than they were ten years ago.

New expectations towards data management

This is a topic that Sverre Støkken, Director of Sovereign Cloud Platforms at Orange Business, is particularly concerned about. He explains how the situation in the industry has changed recently:

- “The trend over the last ten years has been to move more and more to international hyperscaler platforms over time, and that only extremely sensitive or critical services have a need for specific geographical location.

- But we see that the new world view means that there is a much greater need to have control over where services that are considered to be both business-critical, but not least socially critical, are both located and controlled. International hyperscalers will continue to be important, but we see a growing need for Norwegian and European alternatives,” he says.

Extensive expertise

Orange Business is a company with extensive expertise in cloud deliveries and also invests heavily in traditional data centers and infrastructure. What distinguishes Orange Business from many others is that our core business has always been to build solutions that are critical to society and business.

- We now see that our experience and focus on local delivery, experience with both local and international regulations, and control of the complete supply chain is a great strength in a more complex world.

- What we're also seeing is that we need to deliver the traditional safety and security, but at the same time customers want that hyperscaler feeling. They want the ease of use, flexible payment solutions, all these values that the big providers are good at. So we've improved our services and are building ourselves up to become a local alternative to hyperscalers,” says Sverre.

Today, Orange Business delivers a full-fledged national cloud, where critical data is secured in Norwegian data centers.

- “Having things on the ground, having the infrastructure in Norway, has gradually been approached from several angles. We think about the physical security, the fact that you can go in and see the data center for yourself, and then there's the strategic business element in that we can scale up and down as needed. We build our deliveries on the same model as hyperscalers do, where you pay for what you consume and you can scale up and down.

Security

Another aspect is sovereignty. Orange Business customers should be confident that their data is stored locally and under Norwegian control.

- There is no defined international standard or concept when it comes to sovereignty. When different parties talk about it, what they actually mean varies. That's why it's important for us to clarify what we mean by sovereignty.

- For us, it means more than just data locality. Our way of delivering sovereignty is to be in control of the entire IT ecosystem. We need to ensure that the services we deliver have no external dependencies. This means that data and infrastructure must be owned by the same company. All employees must be employed by the same company. You can't be dependent on an external IT service. You must have financial, regulatory, operational and technical sovereignty,” explains Sverre Støkken.

He also emphasizes that any events outside Norway's borders should not affect deliveries.

- “That's our concept. We operate in many countries and define all these countries as separate delivery zones. They must be self-sufficient in order to deliver sovereign services at a national level.

International experience

The fact that Orange Business operates in many different territories also gives them a number of advantages in terms of knowledge of the local markets and legislation.

- In Norway, we have always had customers who are critical to society. It has always been an important part of our business. We have extensive experience with healthcare, finance, government and transportation. We have the same experience in France and Sweden. And the fact that we work across countries gives us a lot of insight. Norway is actually not the country in Europe with the strictest rules when it comes to sovereignty, France is. So the fact that we work closely with France gives us very valuable insight,” says Sverre.

Another strength, according to Støkken, is that when it comes to developing new services, features and design work, Orange Business has all the European resources to play on.

At the same time, the Norwegian data centers interact with other authorities when it comes to emergency preparedness, security and perimeter protection.

- “A lot of what we do is exempt from public disclosure. For the most part, our customers can't tell us exactly what we've done for them. But the point is that we take care of this with control, transparency and confidentiality. Our greatest values are quality, safety and local presence. This is something we will continue to focus on, together with customers with whom we can grow and develop,” concludes Sverre Støkken.