Is Your Business Really in Control of Its Data?
Data is your most valuable asset, and the most vulnerable. With growing concerns over foreign surveillance, data breaches, and vendor lock-in, many IT leaders are asking: “Where exactly does our data live—and who controls it?”
The answer lies in a critical concept: Digital sovereignty.
What Is Digital Sovereignty and Why Does It Matter?
- Definition: Digital sovereignty refers to control over data and infrastructure that are subject to the laws and governance structures of the country in which they are located.
This has massive implications for:
- Compliance with regulations like the GDPR, HIPAA, and AgID guidelines
- Security and protection against international surveillance (e.g., the U.S. CLOUD Act)
- Resilience, ensuring business continuity even when geopolitical situations shift
- Autonomy from third-party providers that might restrict data access or increase prices
According to an IDC report, over 80% of European CIOs say digital sovereignty is now a top priority in IT decision-making.
Carbonio: Built for Data Sovereignty by Design
Zextras Carbonio is a sovereign digital workplace platform that puts data control back in the hands of your organization.
Whether you run a municipality, a university, or an enterprise, Carbonio’s architecture ensures your communications, files, and calendars are always under your governance.
Core Features That Support Sovereignty:
- Self-hosted infrastructure: run Carbonio entirely on your own hardware or sovereign cloud
- Modular and open-core: no hidden components or vendor lock-in
- Secure-by-default: includes 2FA, backups, and role-based access control
- Compliant-ready: Designed to meet strict public sector and enterprise standards
Deployment Models That Support Sovereignty
One size doesn’t fit all. Carbonio gives you three flexible deployment options so you can balance compliance, control, and cost-efficiency.
| Deployment Model | Best Suited For | Level of Data Control | Example Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-Premise | Public sector entities, financial institutions, and organizations with strict compliance needs | Full (100%) – complete physical and logical control | An Italian municipality runs Carbonio on infrastructure located in its local government data center to meet AgID data residency requirements |
| Hybrid Deployment | Enterprises that need a balance between regulatory compliance and elastic scalability | High – data and identity managed locally; non-sensitive workloads may leverage cloud | A national healthcare provider stores patient identity data on local servers while using public cloud object storage for attachments and archives |
| Sovereign Cloud | SMEs and distributed teams operating in compliance-heavy regions like the EU | Variable – depends on provider jurisdiction, infrastructure location, and legal agreements | A remote-first SaaS startup hosts Carbonio in a GDPR-compliant EU cloud operated by an EU-based provider not subject to non-EU laws |
Tip: Even if your data is stored in Europe, U.S.-based cloud providers may still be subject to U.S. laws.
Choosing the Right Model for Your Business
Use this decision checklist to guide your deployment strategy:
| Question | Consider This |
|---|---|
| Are you subject to local or international regulations (e.g., GDPR, AgID)? | Choose On-Premise or Hybrid to ensure compliance |
| Do you handle sensitive data (health, finance, legal)? | Maximize control with On-Premise |
| Do you have in-house IT capacity? | If limited, consider a Hybrid deployment with managed support |
| Do you need to scale fast or work globally? | Sovereign Cloud may offer faster time-to-deploy |
Deployment and Sovereignty Trade-Offs
Below is a visual diagram comparing control, scalability, and compliance across deployment options:
Optimize Your Infrastructure Further
Deployment control is only half of the equation. If you want true sovereignty, you must also manage how your data is stored and retrieved.
Read our article on Carbonio’s Advanced Storage Management to learn how it applies intelligent tiering, local backups, and flexible policies that ensure both performance and compliance at scale.