Google is building a ‘next-generation’ cloud for Germany
In Germany, Google is partnering with T-Systems to create a “Sovereign Cloud” for public and private sector businesses. According to Google, it will be available in mid-2022.
T-Systems is collaborating with Google to develop a jointly run Sovereign Cloud on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP), with critical controls managed by Google. T-Systems stated, “The companies will jointly innovate to develop a large spectrum of next-generation sovereign cloud solutions and infrastructure,” T-Systems said.
According to Google, T-Systems, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, will be in charge of “sovereignty controls and measures, including encryption and identity management” on GCP, according to Google.
T-Systems and Google Cloud will oversee support and engineering tasks that require physical or virtual access to facilities in Germany, according to T-Systems.
Customers may benefit from the joint service if they want to comply with legislation like the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Because of the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act (CLOUD), which allows US authorities to demand access to information held on US providers’ servers, even if that data is located overseas, some experts have expressed concern about sensitive European data being held in cloud data centres owned by US governments.
Only two weeks ago, Google announced plans to invest €1 billion in cloud infrastructure in Germany over the next ten years, as well as a new Google Cloud region in Berlin-Brandenburg and the soon-to-be-completed expansion of its Frankfurt cloud region, which will go online in 2022.
In a press release, Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, stated, “We’re committed to aiding Germany’s digital transformation.”
As European and German businesses digitise their operations, data privacy, security, and management are critical. The sovereign cloud solution we’re developing with T-Systems will add an extra layer of technical and operational controls to ensure German clients can meet their data, operational, and software sovereignty requirements “Added he.
If the idea of a cloud behemoth teaming with T-Systems for a safe cloud offering sounds familiar, it’s because Microsoft tried something similar with T-Systems in 2016, offering Azure, Office 365, and Dynamics CRM Online through two data centres. Employees of Microsoft could gain access to the data centres, but only after T-Systems, the “data trustee,” approved it.
However, according to Fortune, the German-only cloud was more expensive and lacked capabilities found in the standard Azure service. In 2018, Microsoft ended the partnership.
Microsoft has announced that by the end of 2022, it will store and handle the majority of its data within the EU.
These adjustments are taking place as the EU’s top data protection authorities investigate local firms’ GDPR compliance and how they use cloud services like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Office 365 Azure.
On top of that, the EU’s GAIA-X cloud initiative is attempting to establish “digital sovereignty.” However, progress has been slow, and it is unclear whether all members are on board.
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