SAP launches superb cloud service for UK customers

On November 14, 2024By Littum

SAP has announced new sovereign cloud capabilities in the UK, meaning customers will now be able to process data entirely within the country’s borders.

The offering is now fully operational and available to customers, SAP said in a statementand is designed to meet the highest standards of data residency, security and compliance in the UK.

It specifically targets organizations in the public sector, critical national infrastructure such as utilities and any other heavily regulated industry. SAP said it is particularly relevant to organizations in aerospace, defense, government and energy or natural resources.

The offering includes a number of SAP products, including SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud Edition, SAP SuccessFactors HCM, SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP Analytics Cloud and others.

The move builds on SAP’s initial investment in the UK in 2021, the firm said, and aligns with growing customer demand for superior cloud services that ensure security and compliance.

“In today’s complex global environment, it is critical for our customers to understand that their data, as well as our solutions and services, are secure,” said Leila Romane, CEO, SAP UK & Ireland.

“These are managed by security-cleared staff in dedicated, on-premise, secure facilities. Sovereignty is essential to protect against illegal data access, ensure compliance and mitigate risk,” she added.

SAP is jumping on the superb cloud bandwagon

SAP is the latest in a string of companies to announce superior cloud offerings as customers in the UK and Europe flock to data residency options. Analysts said that earlier IT Pro that sovereign capabilities are now “the bare minimum” for cloud providers.

Oracle has pushed particularly hard on this front, revealing a dedicated sovereign cloud region in Europe in 2023 and speaks for the demand for supreme cloud latest at Oracle CloudWorld 2024.

Oracle CTO and Chairman Larry Ellison even went so far as to predict it most international governments will have a sovereign cloud regionwith Oracle well positioned to meet this demand.

Other companies have also rolled out services in this domain. Rackspace unveiled a superb cloud service aimed at UK government customers earlier this year, for example, while Scottish cloud provider DataVita and HPE announced a dedicated supreme cloud service for UK customers in August.

Similar to Microsoft rolled out data retention plans in Europe at the beginning of this year, with a technology analyst saying so IT Pro that the move had been “further along the way”.

The demand for sovereign cloud has a lot to do with compliance with legislation in Europe. Data must reside on a sovereign cloud entirely within the boundaries of one region, and therefore its risk of being accessed by another region is massively reduced.

This is an attractive feature for certain businesses, particularly public sectors and those in critical infrastructure, as it ensures that potentially sensitive or high-risk data is protected from external access.

Some data processing regulations also require data to be processed in the region, with EU regulators in particular focusing heavily on these requirements.