Modern organizations face an existential dependency crisis as an estimated 92% of EU data resides on US-controlled cloud infrastructure, creating significant risks to availability, confidentiality, integrity, and privacy. Data platforms, which have become the the brain and memory of organizations, are critical for storing, processing, and supplying vital data for operational and strategic decisions. This dependency on foreign cloud service providers creates significant risks, transforming data platform decisions from technical considerations into strategic imperatives with potentially catastrophic consequences.
In this whitepaper, we provide a comprehensive framework for securing data platform sovereignty through six distinct strategies, ranging from sovereign data backups to fully independent data infrastructure. We’ve also included a detailed analysis of each approach’s trade-offs and risk mitigation capabilities, four sovereignty readiness levels for data platforms, and a structured four-phase implementation approach.
Organizations that fail to assess and mitigate data platform sovereignty risks face potential business continuity crises, severe regulatory non-compliance, and loss of competitive advantage. The question is no longer whether to pursue data platform sovereignty, but how quickly and effectively organizations can secure their most critical data assets using the strategic guidance and practical tools provided in this comprehensive resource.
At Eraneos, we see digital sovereignty as the ability to actively shape your own digital environment, rather than simply reacting to conditions set by others. It is not about isolation or avoiding global providers. It is about keeping meaningful choice and control over your data, your systems, and your strategic direction, supported by a plural and competitive field of suppliers that keeps you free to switch and to innovate.
This paper applies that principle to data platforms, where much of that control is won or lost. Sovereignty here is rarely a single yes or no decision. We hope it helps you weigh the technical, financial, organizational, and regulatory trade-offs, and choose consciously how much sovereignty each part of your platform really needs.
