“The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data,” stated The Economist in 2017.1 While it is certain that data is the lifeblood of many organizations today, just like oil, it only has value if you can access and utilize it. The first two parts of this blog series covered the importance of data sovereignty and data compliance and security. In this third part, we show several ways your organization can benefit from improved data access and integrity using a sovereign cloud.
Without timely access to data, your organization’s efforts to comply with local data sovereignty regulations will prove futile. Fast and secure access to data whenever it is needed is an essential aspect of an effective sovereign cloud. Imagine the impact on Rotterdam Runners' reputation if they struggled to access their customers' order and address details. Such data access issues could lead to serious delivery delays or even result in shipping shoes in the wrong size.
Fast and reliable data access is a combination of dependable data backups, proven disaster recovery protocols, secure networks, and robust data center connections. To meet local data sovereignty requirements, a sovereign cloud provider must have at least two data centers within the jurisdiction where the data is generated. 99.999% uptime is vital for any sovereign cloud.2
Limiting unauthorized or unwanted access to data is another important aspect of a sovereign cloud. Beyond local authorities, a sovereign cloud only grants access to authorized individuals and organizations. For example, Rotterdam Runners can easily grant their marketing agency access to anonymized customer data from the sovereign cloud to help develop an advertising campaign. The sovereign cloud provider does not have access to your data unless you explicitly grant it.
A strict data access policy also protects data integrity. Harvard Business School defines data integrity as “the maintenance of, and the assurance of the accuracy and consistency of, data over its entire life-cycle.”3 Data integrity is strengthened by robust data security. Maintaining data privacy by protecting it against malicious elements and natural disasters helps preserve the integrity of your business data.
Authorized access to accurate and complete data is an integral component that can improve performance and processes within your organization. Because of the sovereign cloud's strict access management and robust security policies, your organization can confidently analyze confidential data without compromising its privacy.
Detailed analysis of privacy-sensitive datasets can provide new insights that inspire innovation and new revenue streams. For instance, if Rotterdam Runners uses a sovereign cloud to store and analyze anonymized data on customer addresses, they could gain better insight into the effectiveness of their local marketing spend on digital ads and flyers. Insights into specific products often sold together at a local level can help Rotterdam Runners better define their digital ad targeting without violating the privacy of their customer data.
By migrating certain data from American public cloud providers (which account for 66% of the European cloud computing market4) to Fundaments' Dutch sovereign cloud, your organization can extract more value from privacy-sensitive data, thereby making operational and performance improvements.
This series consists of four blog articles. The final one will be published next week and will cover data independence and mobility thanks to a sovereign cloud.
Sources:
1. The Economist, The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data, May 2017
2. AWS Public Sector Blog, Achieving “five nines” in the cloud for justice and public safety, March 2020
3. Harvard Business School Online, What is data integrity and why does it matter?, February 2021
4. Toolbox, EU-US Data Flows Under the Spotlight: Here’s How Organizations Can Prepare, August 2021
