SUSE launching region-locked support for the sovereignty-conscious

Linux veteran SUSE has unveiled a new support package aimed at customers concerned about data sovereignty.

Called “SUSE Sovereign Premium Support,” the service geo-pins support to a given region rather than adopting the traditional follow-the-sun model, where support comes from whatever region is online. The latter approach could break sovereignty regulations or policies, as it might involve transferring data out of a region. Ensuring that support is available from a specific region is therefore crucial, particularly for European customers.

SUSE CEO Dirk-Peter van Leeuwen told The Register: “Digital sovereignty has become a really hot topic in the last half year, and specifically in Europe, where companies feel an increasing need to get things done in-house, in-country, or in-region within Europe, with less dependency on non-European vendors and supply chains and people.”

“In Europe,” he said, “there is a certain amount of local sourcing required, and people want sourcing to be done from local European companies.”

The tech giants are taking concerns about sovereignty seriously. Earlier this year, AWS announced the formation of an European cloud unit that would be locally run and controlled from the end of 2025. Microsoft has also acknowledged sovereignty with its EU Data Boundary and pledges of privacy safeguards.

SUSE is European-headquartered and therefore in a relatively favorable position with regard to specific European concerns about sovereignty. It does not, however, provide hosting services. “We don’t have the infrastructure,” explained Van Leeuwen, “and we don’t want to invest in that infrastructure.”

“We remain independent, and we can be used by all the different parties and all the different voices.”

While SUSE sees a demand for a sovereign support service, and some customers have already taken up the option (Van Leeuwen told us the extra cost was approximately 15 percent), is the company seeing a trend of workloads being migrated as concerns over sovereignty continue to mount?

“I don’t really see it happening,” said Van Leeuwen. “I don’t see so much of a shift; I see an increase in investments.

“I see an increase in really bringing things into the region. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I see them taking it away from existing hyperscalers, plus the hyperscalers are jumping on this as well by offering their local support.

“I do see that there is a massive interest in new developments, in new technology that will need to be built and supported within the region.”

The trend toward sovereignty, according to Van Leeuwen, is not going away anytime soon. “There’s a tremendous opportunity,” he said. “Nobody is waking up tomorrow and saying, ‘OK, we’re not doing it anymore.’ This is happening. This has been started.” ®

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