Airbus’ Shift to a European Sovereign Cloud

Airbus, a leader in aerospace innovation, plans to transition essential applications to a European sovereign cloud, spotlighting data sovereignty’s growing importance. Beginning with a tender in January, this effort signifies a significant step and involves a potentially decade-long contract worth over €50 million. While the challenge is substantial, Catherine Jestin, Airbus’ EVP of Digital, remains hopeful, estimating an 80% chance of finding the right solution.

This move, initially detailed by The Register, will cover Airbus’ crucial on-premises applications like ERP, CRM, and more, migrating them to a cloud-based setup. The catalyst? Evolving software landscapes where platforms such as SAP offer updates solely in cloud environments. Notably, safeguarding data considered sensitive from a national and European angle is crucial, hence the focus on keeping it within European confines.

Geopolitical and Provider Capacity Challenges

While giants like Microsoft, AWS, and Google present options to meet data sovereignty needs, the US CLOUD Act throws a wrench into the works. This law permits US authorities to access data held by US firms worldwide, raising sovereignty concerns. Notably, Microsoft has even admitted in French court that this law complicates European data seizure protégés. Airbus eagerly awaits EU regulators’ stance on whether they are shielded from such extraterritorial demands.

Moreover, finding scalable European cloud providers is another challenge. Jestin is somewhat confident, rating the odds of finding an appropriate solution at 80%. Similarly, the Dutch government struggles with oversight, as evidenced by the Netherlands Court of Audit’s report on unclear cloud service assessments. So, Airbus continues to navigate this intricate terrain, balancing technical, regulatory, and geopolitical dimensions in its quest for a cloud solution.

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