Oracle is launching a Fusion Cloud Applications Suite (FCAS) on its Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud in a move designed to offer app users greater assurance in compliance with the region’s data law.
The EU implemented its General Data Protection Regulation in 2018, making it one of the strictest regimes in the world for the handling of personal data. The UK, which initially adopted the laws while a member of the EU trading and political bloc, now has legislation which is equivalent to GDPR, according to the EU’s current judgement.
Oracle said those using its cloud-based Fusion apps in the sovereign cloud would be assured that in all 27 EU member states, organizations with strict data sovereignty requirements can manage finance, HR, supply chain, manufacturing, and customer experience data on a single platform. Oracle said it is located in the EU, owned, operated, and managed by EU incorporated legal entities, and run by EU-based personnel.
“As the regulatory landscape – particularly around data privacy and AI —continues to evolve, organizations are increasingly prioritizing operational and technical sovereignty when adopting cloud-based applications,” claimed Ashok Patel, IDC research manager, in a prepared statement.
“It is fundamentally about an organization’s desire to maintain control, ensure security, and build trust in an increasingly AI-driven world. The availability of Oracle’s complete cloud application suite — with the full range of services, features, and functionality — in a sovereign environment plays a key role in the vendor’s efforts to address this increasingly critical market need in Europe,” he said.
Steve Miranda, executive vice president, applications development, Oracle said FCAS was “especially important for public sector organizations and regulated industries across the EU that need to reassure citizens and customers that their data is not leaving the country or region.”
The new deployment option is available across the gamut of Fusion applications, including ERP, HCM, Supply Chain & Manufacturing (SCM), and Customer Experience (CX).
Oracle is way AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud in terms of market share, yet it is the only one with a mature set of integrated enterprise business applications. Microsoft has a set of applications under the Dynamics banner but they don’t quite play at the same scale as Oracle.
In terms of cloud infrastructure alone, in May 2024 AWS confirmed plans to invest €7.8 billion in the AWS European Sovereign Cloud in Germany, as local customers’ demand US vendors offer digital sovereignty. The AWS European Sovereign Cloud is planning to launch its first AWS Region in the State of Brandenburg, Germany, by the end of 2025, available to all customers.
Google talked up plans for EU sovereign clouds in September 2021 and opened a datacenter in Paris for the purpose in 2022, as well as a partnership with Germany’s T-Systems.
Microsoft Azure has the concept of an EU Data Boundary, a geographically defined boundary within which it promises to store and process customer data for major commercial enterprise online services.
In August 2024, British hosting biz DataVita launched a “National Cloud” service offering clients data residency within the UK, and claims to have full transparency over costs, with no hidden fees or egress charges, positioning itself as an alternative to the big cloud operators. ®
