Digital sovereignty is now a strategic imperative for many European organizations. According to a new IDC Market Note¹, “Sovereignty is not viewed just as a contractual consideration, but as an architectural one, and one of technical feasibility.”

IDC adds, “In terms of adoption, the first years of what could be called the European 'sovereignty drive' were characterized by cloud service providers starting to offer sovereign services. According to IDC's Worldwide Digital Sovereignty Survey, around 30% of European organizations were using sovereign cloud solutions in 2023 and 2024; in 2025, this surged to 40%, with a further 31% planning to use sovereign cloud.”

Geopolitical instability, tightening regulations, and growing concern over dependence on foreign technology providers are also driving European organizations to think well beyond simply where their data lives.

According to the IDC Market Note, it’s also about who can access the data: “Questions have moved from ‘Where is the platform hosted?’ to ‘Who governs it, and from where, and which foreign government can legally impose its will on providers of our critical technology?’"  

This type of organizational soul searching is creating real demand for solutions that deliver security, compliance, and sovereignty by design. The IDC Market Note highlighted a particular example:

“Most recently, in October 2025, OVHcloud and Romania-based cybersecurity vendor Bitdefender announced the launch of a sovereign cybersecurity platform hosted on OVHcloud's SecNumCloud-certified service.”

The drive for data sovereignty at all stages of the data lifecycle is shaping procurement decisions, architectural choices, and long-term risk strategies in the EU, especially across the public sector and regulated industries.

From Contractual Sovereignty to Architectural Sovereignty

In the early stages of Europe’s sovereignty push, many international cloud providers responded by introducing “sovereign” offerings that focused primarily on data residency. But the conversation has matured quickly. Today, organizations are asking deeper questions: Who governs the platform? Who operates it? Which foreign laws could still apply?

Sovereignty is now viewed as an architectural and technical requirement rather than just a contractual one. Europe is the first region where this shift is happening at scale, supported by national and EU-wide initiatives.

Why European Providers are Gaining Momentum

While global hyperscalers have expanded European sovereign cloud offerings, uncertainty remains—particularly for public sector organizations and operators of critical infrastructure. Concerns around extraterritorial data access, sanctions risk, and regulatory interpretation continue to push EU organizations toward providers headquartered and operated within Europe.

This is where regional providers like OVHcloud stand out. As a French-founded cloud provider with SecNumCloud certification from ANSSI, OVHcloud meets stringent requirements for security, operational autonomy, and immunity from non-European legal frameworks. Its SecNumCloud operations are run exclusively by personnel based in Europe, reinforcing trust for sovereignty-driven use cases.

Sovereign Cybersecurity by Design

Now a partnership between Bitdefender and OVHcloud takes this model a step further by combining a sovereign cloud foundation with a mature, European-built cybersecurity platform.

Bitdefender GravityZone—a unified extended detection and response (XDR) platform—covers endpoint, network, and cloud security, as well as risk, compliance, and attack surface management and reduction. Hosted on OVHcloud’s SecNumCloud-certified infrastructure, GravityZone is delivered without foreign subprocessors or foreign access, ensuring sovereignty across data, technical, and operational layers.

This approach directly supports compliance with GDPR, NIS 2, DORA, and other EU regulations. Notably, the technology partners are addressing one of the most complex challenges of NIS 2: multi-country compliance. Although many core EU rules are shared, the practical obligations and nuances often vary by country. Because of these national differences, Bitdefender and OVHcloud plan to offer multi-country NIS 2 capabilities beginning in 2026—an important differentiator for organizations operating across borders.

Equally important is speed. The Bitdefender-OVHcloud partnership rapidly deploys sovereign security without sacrificing operational capability. This is a critical requirement for public sector bodies and regulated industries that cannot afford prolonged transition periods.

Sovereignty As a Strategic Risk Decision

Risk tolerance has changed. For some organizations, sovereignty requirements are now explicitly included in RFIs (requests for information). For others, external forces such as sanctions, legal rulings, or regulatory enforcement are beginning to trigger shifts away from foreign-headquartered providers. Data sovereignty is increasingly treated as a risk-reduction imperative.

Learn More

To explore the full analysis of digital sovereignty, market drivers, and the projected impact of the Bitdefender–OVHcloud partnership, get your copy of the IDC Market Note.

As EU requirements continue to evolve, understanding sovereign-by-design cybersecurity is key. Learn how the Bitdefender GravityZone platform can increase your security posture and help your organization maintain sovereignty across data, technical, and operational domains.

En Savoir Plus: Cybersécurité européenne. Cloud souverain français.

¹ IDC Market Note: Bitdefender and OVHcloud Join Forces with European Sovereign Cybersecurity Platform Offering (Doc #EUR254251926, February 2026)