As the world moves towards increasing the use of technology, data protection and privacy issues continue to cloud some business decisions today. Over the years, these issues have been dictating how businesses adapt to new technologies, especially given the sensitivity of the data involved.

Be it the retail industry, education institutions or the public sector, data protection and privacy require organizations to be more secure and compliant. It becomes even more important for regulated industries like the financial services. The increasing complexity of data protection and privacy has also led businesses to pivot toward cloud sovereignty.

Cloud sovereignty means taking a more responsible approach towards asserting control and ownership over data and infrastructure hosted in cloud computing environments. Most countries and organizations around the world are now looking at how they can protect their citizen’s data and privacy by implementing cloud sovereignty.

According to IDC, 63% of respondents from a survey have stated that it is extremely important to have a cloud solution that provides complete jurisdictional control and authority over data which further highlights the business need to create cloud infrastructure that provides data transparency and visibility and tightly controls data residency. In today’s growing cloud landscape, organizations need support to navigate through the complexities of a multi-cloud journey and as digital transformation brings greater reliance on data, countries across Asia are in need to intensify efforts to develop data governance strategies and legislation to enforce laws focused on privacy, protection, and security.

In Southeast Asia, cloud sovereignty is becoming a key capability for businesses as they look to scale their business growth. In fact, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia have already signed partnerships with tech enterprises to develop their cloud sovereignty. For example, in Malaysia, VMware has partnered with Credence to deliver the first sovereign cloud service in the country. Another example is in Singapore, where Microsoft is working with HTX to develop a sovereign cloud service as well.

Interestingly, while a few tech enterprises are developing sovereign cloud services in the region with local partners, VMware has added 19 partners in the APJ region in the last 12 months including key countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia to offer cloud sovereign capabilities to their customers.

“Cloud sovereignty is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have. Cloud sovereignty is born from the convergence of multiple factors – the accelerated growth of technological innovation, the burgeoning volume of data, data sensitivity and the need to safeguard the integrity of data. Establishing a more secure and resilient cloud infrastructure will open opportunities for businesses trying to scale through multi-cloud to develop collaborative data ecosystems and unlock critical, data-driven applications, leading to scale and innovation with lower risk. VMware Sovereign Cloud providers are well placed to navigate ambiguity and uncharted waters while allowing the customers to achieve cutting-edge transformation at scale,” commented Paul Simos, VMware Vice President and Managing Director of Southeast Asia and Korea.

VMware Sovereign Cloud providers are trusted national or regional cloud service providers that unlock the value of critical data for both private and public sector organizations, better secure data with audited security controls, help ensure compliance with data privacy laws, and improve control of data by providing both data residency and data sovereignty with full jurisdictional control.

VMware SaaS offerings for Sovereign Cloud

Partners deliver sovereign SaaS natively using VMware software running in their sovereign cloud data centers, completely disconnected from the public Internet. All data remains resident and exists only within a given sovereign region, with no access by foreign jurisdictions, no data or metadata leaves the country or provider.

For example in Thailand, Tanapong Ittisakulchai, Chief Enterprise Business Officer, AIS Business, a VMware partner in the country pointed out that instead of being bogged down by even more complexity with regulations and management needs, they are giving enterprises peace of mind with their developer ready sovereign cloud services so they can focus on growing and innovating.

Over in Malaysia, AVM Cloud is a VMware Sovereign Cloud provider. Their solutions are architected and built to deliver data access and security that meets the strict requirements of regulated industries and local jurisdiction laws on data privacy, access, and control.

“We deliver this national capability for digital resilience while still enabling our customers to access a hyperscale cloud in another region for ancillary workloads or analytics,” said David Chan, CEO, of AVM Cloud.

In Indonesia, Lintasarta partners with VMware to deliver cutting-edge technology solutions through Deka sovereign cloud initiative which is intended for companies that need more protection regarding data stored in Private Cloud.

“Our combined expertise and innovation will enable us to provide a secure and reliable cloud infrastructure that meets the unique needs of government agencies and critical industries. We look forward to enabling digital transformation and empowering our customers to achieve their goals in this rapidly evolving technological landscape,” commented Ginandjar, Commerce Director at Lintasarta.

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