Take control of your data with the right cloud strategy

“The advantages of the public cloud are as strong as ever, and it continues to be an extremely valuable environment for many organizations. Many companies are still migrating applications to Azure, AWS, or Google,” says Christophe Crous, VP Corporate Sales and Marketing Lead at Proximus NXT. “However, a growing number of companies, previously committed to a ‘cloud-first’ strategy, are now reevaluating their approach. They are choosing a customized mix that combines on-premise and private cloud with public cloud, with or without a public sovereign cloud component.”

Why are companies partially moving away from the public cloud?

“There are a variety of reasons for this,” explains Christophe. “Firstly, there is a need for greater transparency about the contracts they sign with public cloud providers. Companies often lack clarity about exactly what they are signing up for. Furthermore, ‘everything in the cloud’ is not as cheap as originally thought.

Companies are also increasingly aware that the cloud is not cyber-secure by default. It requires additional investment and expertise. And then there is the growing importance of data sovereignty: where is our data stored? Is this data secure? Do we have full control over our data? These are important considerations in today’s geopolitical climate.”

If the public cloud isn't the only option, what are the alternatives?

“As I said, the public cloud is not the only option,” says Joris Duysens, Cloud Practice Lead at Proximus NXT. “You can also choose an on-premise or private cloud , where your company hosts applications on its own IT infrastructure. Or you can opt for a private cloud in a partner’s data center, such as Proximus NXT, with or without shared hardware.”

The big advantage of the public cloud is that you can easily scale up or down, depending on your current needs. The wide range of functionalities also makes it a popular environment for analysts and developers. “But if you work with sensitive data, an on-premise or private cloud offers more guaranteed security,” Joris continues. “If the speed between capturing and processing data is crucial, then you might be better off with an on-premise solution.”

Companies are increasingly choosing a combination of clouds: public, private, on-premise and possibly public sovereign cloud.

Christophe Crous, VP Corporate Sales and Marketing Lead at Proximus NXT

The best cloud solution depends on your specific needs in terms of flexibility, data confidentiality, and latency. Christophe: “Many companies are choosing to use a mix of cloud solutions, possibly even combining different public clouds. Today, it's not just about the journey to the cloud, but it’s about the journey in the cloud.”

When should you choose a sovereign cloud?

The major cloud players are American companies, which must comply with US government requests for access to customer data. With a sovereign cloud , you have greater certainty that your data and applications are stored on servers in the European Union, protecting them from access by any third party such as the US government.

This can be very important for certain organizations, such as government agencies, including security services and defense, as well as for financial institutions. The risk is real. There are now examples of European companies that have lost their Microsoft licenses after intervention by the US government and subsequently went bankrupt.

What are the sovereign cloud possibilities in Europe?

The question is: Is there a fully-fledged European alternative to the well-known American public cloud services? “Not quite yet,” says Christophe, “at least not if you want to use the full functionality of those offered by American public clouds. However, there are solutions based on the American model that do offer sovereignty.”

It all depends on the type of sovereignty your company needs. Proximus NXT, for example, provides a solution based on Microsoft Azure, where data is encrypted at all times, and Microsoft does not have the key. This means that Microsoft, and by extension the US government, never has access to the data.

Google Disconnected Cloud goes one step further. All data and applications are located in a data center managed by Proximus NXT in Luxembourg. Christophe: “The infrastructure runs on Google operating software but is otherwise completely disconnected from Google and managed by us. Google does not have access to the data or the data center. What's more, Google doesn't even have access to the operating software.”

In the future, companies will increasingly ask themselves how they can become less dependent on a single technology or a single party.

Joris Duysens, Cloud Practice Lead at Proximus NXT

Will everything become public sovereign cloud in the future?

Is moving everything to sovereign cloud the best option? Not necessarily, because sovereign cloud comes at a price. It is therefore important to carefully consider the risks you are willing to take with each workload. One possible solution is to move the most critical workloads and data to the sovereign cloud, with the right level of sovereignty.

“I believe that in the future, companies will increasingly ask themselves how they can become less dependent on a single technology or a single party. And how they can gain more control over the security of their own data. That's why we continue to invest in sovereign cloud,” adds Joris.

How do you choose the right cloud combination and make sure it remains manageable?

“It’s not easy,” emphasizes Christophe. “First, you need to outline your workloads and identify the requirements that the corresponding cloud solution must meet. This will help you determine the best cloud mix for your needs.” A cloud specialist can help you make the right choice, at the right price, based on setting realistic expectations about the possibilities and ensuring correct implementation.

But that's not the end of the story. Managing an environment that combines different types of cloud services can be complex. A partner like Proximus NXT can help with this. Or provide a Cloud Management Platform that makes management easier. “The mix of clouds typically depends on the type of business.

Companies that mainly use standard office software find it easier to choose the public cloud. Manufacturing companies, on the other hand, tend to use on-premise cloud more frequently, especially those that have developed customized software to manage complex processes,” Joris continues. “The approach can vary significantly from sector to sector, particularly when different regulations apply. For example, in the financial sector, the requirements of the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) play a major role today.”

How do you keep the multicloud environment secure?

How can you maintain consistent security when using one or more public clouds, an on-premise environment and a private cloud from an external provider? “Users must have fast, high-performance and secure access to data and applications everywhere, in any cloud,” Joris summarizes. “So, besides ensuring security, you’ll need to check whether the performance of your applications is sufficient once they are in the cloud.”

Proximus NXT provides the foundations for this secure, high-performance cloud environment. “For other aspects, we call on solution partners,” explains Joris. “These are companies from our own group, such as Codit for application modernization, Proximus Ada for data and AI, or Davinsi Labs for cybersecurity. We also work with international players such as Thales and Intel, as well as integrators. With this approach, we support companies with their entire cloud journey.”