Championing Digital Sovereignty in Europe: SUSE’s Position on Open Sovereign IT

I meet a lot of customers and Digital Sovereignty is on everyone’s minds. For some customers such as governments and those in high-risk or data-sensitive industries, this need for digital sovereignty in Europe has been a long-standing reality.  But for many others, how to successfully navigate and derisk this is new.

It’s definitely a global phenomenon, but it’s in the European market where these conversations are most frequent and pressing. Interestingly the customers are often not European, even if the market they are talking about is. Partners also want to know how they can serve their customers on this issue. It looks like a long-term shift, and SUSE is ready to support. 

The first thing I tell customers and partners is that sovereignty goes well beyond data storage. It’s about control, flexibility and the entire B2B operation including processes, support and data management. We know it also needs to be adaptable while not breaking business operations.  It is a whole spectrum of architectural decisions enabling control and flexibility, driven by various requirements. 

You can count on SUSE to deliver digitally sovereign solutions, for four main reasons: 

European Digital Sovereignty backed by SUSE’s strong regional roots

SUSE was founded in Germany, is Swedish owned with a headquarters in Luxembourg. Our largest development centers are in Germany and the Czech Republic, with further bases across Europe including the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy. This European footing offers a degree of insulation from external factors that might impact data access or software updates. 

This addresses a real concern for organizations, especially those dealing with sensitive data, even if your organization is based outside of Europe. We are also happy to be your bridge to operate globally. 

Open by design, sovereign by choice

Open source software gives customers the ultimate flexibility to evolve with regulatory requirements or changing business needs. Open source alone is not enough; the systems need to be fully interoperable and heterogeneous to build the type of environments that can adapt. This is particularly important in today’s diverse and complex IT landscapes. 

SUSE’s Multi-Linux Support is an alternative for those looking to move away from traditional software providers.  Our Multi-Linux Manager provides customers with control over various Linux distributions, and SUSE Rancher Prime and SUSE Security offer control over any Kubernetes distribution. 

At SUSE we also believe in open standards.  Even if external factors limited operations, the open source baseline remains accessible, allowing customers to continue development or switch to other providers. 

Recently, France was the first government to endorse UN Open Source Principles. SUSE was proud to be among the first 19 organizations supporting this. This need for choice, this freedom from control is a core component of digital sovereignty, and SUSE is proud to support it. 

We deliver customized IT solutions aligned with local needs

By locally collaborating with our global ecosystem to adapt our platforms, we can help our customers to meet national needs while minimizing downtime.  We can also help them adapt quickly to evolving rules and standards. This is crucial for regulated industries that face evolving and highly specific compliance demands. 

More and more of our customers are using open source software to run sensitive systems, and with that comes more requirements for local support and services. 

We collaborate with local ecosystems to adapt SUSE platforms

We work hand in hand with certified consultants and local market experts to help us understand and address local market needs. We collaborate to deliver sovereign solutions, such as e-archiving for German government organizations with partners like Fujitsu. Working with local partners ensures that the economic benefits of adopting our solutions are distributed within regional economies. 

Through Project Sylva, Orange and other project participants aim to comply with stringent regulatory requirements around information security and data governance, among other priorities.  For the Institution for Municipal Data Processing in Bavaria (AKDB) & Kommunales Rechenzentrum Niederrhein (KRZN), two public sector local German datacenter providers, digital sovereignty is paramount. Organizations like Germany’s Federal Employment Agency (BfA), who drive major impact, need digital sovereignty to help ensure visibility and resilience. 

But it’s not just in Europe.  We’ve been helping customers and partners do this in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the United States. We have custom local organizational structures, operations and people working within local regulations and compliance.  

As you look to modernize your software stack, we know this goes beyond a box to check, but will require a true partner to navigate complex local landscapes to end up with a clear advantage. Are you considering a regional sovereign solution? We are your best option to deliver this, and would love to hear from you.