Germany's Locational Advantage: Digital Resilience in Times of Global Uncertainty

The major hyperscalers - above all Microsoft, Google and AWS - are currently investing heavily in "sovereign cloud" initiatives in order not to lose the trust of their European customers. At a time of growing geopolitical tensions and regulatory requirements, it is becoming clear that anyone offering cloud services must also convincingly demonstrate that digital resilience and compliance are taken seriously in Europe. In this interview, Frank Meinecke, CISO, and Sebastian Wittgens, Head of Cloud Operations, explain how a European provider like USU is positioning itself in this area of tension and why a multi-cloud strategy is more than a technical luxury.

Putting trust to the test in the age of the cloud

At the latest forum on digital sovereignty in Europe, Brad Smith, Vice Chair & President at Microsoft, emphasized how important it is to convince European customers not only with powerful technology, but also with legal security. The major hyperscalers—especially Microsoft, Google and AWS—are investing heavily in sovereign cloud initiatives to maintain the trust of their European customers. With rising geopolitical tensions and tighter regulations, it’s clear that anyone offering cloud services must show they take digital resilience and compliance seriously in Europe.

"We are not tied to one provider." - Frank Meinecke on platform independence and customer requirements

Question: Frank, the topic of digital resilience is currently more present than ever. How is USU dealing with it?

Frank Meinecke: The topic has definitely reached the public eye — especially with regard to the dependence on American hyperscalers. We have had a platform-independent strategy for years. Our products can be operated on AWS, Google Cloud, Open Telekom Cloud, in-house or even on our own hardware. This gives us and our customers the necessary flexibility — even in regulated environments.

Question: How important is it to be able to prove that you can meet these requirements in sensitive sectors such as finance or energy?

Frank Meinecke: Very important. We meet 95 percent of our customers' regulatory requirements out of the box — whether it's a direct VPN connection, connection to identity management, risk management or integration into internal control systems. And we make the rest possible. In projects with regional banks, the contract negotiations alone take months. And then it really gets going with regular reports, steering committees and emergency tests.

"We are prepared — even for emergencies." - Sebastian Wittgens on business continuity and multicloud

Question: Sebastian, what is the worst-case scenario? What if a hyperscaler suddenly breaks down?

Sebastian Wittgens: We are prepared for this. We have designed our infrastructure in such a way that we can move the entire workload from one provider to another in case of doubt — or back to our own data center. Of course, this doesn't just take an hour and can also mean hardware purchases. But it is possible. And our operations teams are fully trained for this.

Question: Does the Sovereign Cloud play a role in this?

Sebastian Wittgens: Yes, absolutely. We currently operate the customers with the highest regulatory requirements in the Telekom Datacenter. However, we have also already looked closely at Google's Sovereign Cloud offerings in various European countries. So far, this has been less interesting for our customers because the business relationship with a US company still remains. But if someone has these requirements — we are technically prepared.

"Anticipate risks before they arise." - USU's strategic approach

Question: Frank, what role does risk management play in the product strategy?

Frank Meinecke: A central one. Long before the current debate, we already had the risk of provider failure in our risk management. Our multicloud strategy is not just a technical measure — it is also an expression of our philosophy: Resilience through independence. In this way, we help our customers to strengthen their own resilience and keep the specialist knowledge about the entire stack in-house.

Wanted: European alternatives with vision

At a time when political decisions overseas can have a massive impact on European digital strategies, alternatives are needed. With its technical independence, regulatory expertise and genuine risk awareness, USU shows how European providers can set standards in terms of digital resilience.

Would you like to find out more? Feel free to contact us and discover how we create IT stability and future-proofing — and how our customers benefit from this.