Digital Sovereignty: Why Companies and Organizations Should Act Now
Every day, the amount of data that companies and organizations collect, process, and store is increasing. At the same time, legal requirements for data protection and data processing are also growing. Therefore, companies and organizations face the task of managing sensitive information not only efficiently but also responsibly. This is where the issue of digital sovereignty, especially regarding data, is becoming increasingly important.
What is Digital Sovereignty?
For companies and organizations, digital sovereignty means having control over their digital infrastructure, data, and applications, being able to use them, and developing them independently. Basically, it is about avoiding dependencies on individual suppliers – for example, supplier lock-in – ensuring the confidentiality of data and commercial secrets in a reliable way, and being able to comply with legal requirements at any time. Therefore, digital sovereignty includes technological freedom, net data sovereignty, and the ability to act independently and securely – whether in the cloud, on-premises, or in hybrid models.
- Control over your data – also known as data sovereignty – Companies know where their data is stored, who can access it, and can remove it at any time they want.
- Independence from individual suppliers – Technologies and suppliers can be changed, data can be exported, and they are not dependent on proprietary platforms.
- Legal certainty – Data protection, compliance, and retention requirements can be reliably met – regardless of the hosting model.
- Security and accessibility – Data is protected against manipulation, immutable, and usable in the long term, even in case of failure or changes in cloud services.
- Strategic freedom – Companies continue to choose between cloud, hybrid, and on-premises solutions and can plan their IT in the long term.
Why is Data Sovereignty So Important for Companies and Organizations?
The current global political situation is causing many companies and organizations to adopt a more critical perspective towards international cloud providers. In this context, digital sovereignty is becoming increasingly important: it strengthens independence and the ability to act in the digital field, prevents unilateral dependence on a few mostly foreign technology companies, and protects sensitive data from unwanted access; for example, laws like the US CLOUD Act. At the same time, it increases resistance against cyber espionage and sabotage.
How Does This Look in Everyday Business Life?
First of all, it is important to identify risks at an early stage and consciously manage technological dependencies. Data sovereignty does not mean that you have to operate every IT solution yourself. Many producers now offer different operating models ranging from cloud to local and hybrid variants, allowing companies to choose a solution that exactly fits their needs.
How Can Companies and Organizations Achieve Data Sovereignty?
Data sovereignty requires conscious decisions and the right measures. Companies and organizations should consider several aspects and ask themselves the following questions:
- Transparency: Where are my data and who has access to them?
- Flexibility: Which IT solutions support cloud and on-premises models?
- Compliance: How can legal requirements be reliably met?
- Risks: What dependencies exist and how reliable are external suppliers? Are my data sufficiently protected?
MailStore: Data Sovereignty in Email Archiving
Especially the topic of email emphasizes the importance of data sovereignty in practice. The reason for this is that email is one of the most important communication tools in companies. Emails contain critical and personal data and are subject to many legal requirements, such as data protection and long-term storage.
Microsoft is the world's leading cloud provider for email and office applications. In addition to Microsoft 365, many companies also use integrated archiving functions; because they appear simple and cost-effective at first glance. However, this also creates a strong dependency.
If both the archive and production system are in the hands of one supplier, supplier lock-in becomes a reality. As the email archive grows, changing suppliers becomes increasingly expensive. In addition, cloud outages or security incidents affect not only active mailboxes but also archived email data. As a market leader, Microsoft is one of the most profitable targets for hackers, and unfortunately, zero-day vulnerabilities and successful data thefts have occurred multiple times.
Here is where MailStore comes into play and offers independent email archiving. This allows companies and organizations to take control of their email data, ensure access even in the event of service disruptions from external providers, and remain flexible in their choice of email providers.