GitHub Introduces EU Data Residency for Enterprise Cloud Customers

GitHub Offers Data Residency in the EU with GitHub Enterprise Cloud

September 24, 2024 - San Francisco, CA - GitHub, the most widely adopted Copilot-powered developer platform, announced GitHub Enterprise Cloud will offer a robust data residency feature for enterprises, starting with general availability in the European Union (EU) on October 29, 2024. GitHub also confirms that additional regions are coming next, including Australia, Asia, and Latin America. With improved enterprise-grade features and more control over where code is stored, GitHub Enterprise Cloud will help more enterprise customers meet their security and compliance needs with data residency that addresses: "In light of the mounting importance of data residency needs, there is a clear desire for organizations to have more control over where their most valuable asset, their code, is stored. GitHub recognizes this pressing need, and on October 29, we will offer the ability for all organizations to store their code in the EU," said GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke. "The timing is crucial as organizations in the EU and across the world are racing to empower their software developers with AI at every step to get ahead and win in the global market. With the data residency feature of GitHub Enterprise Cloud, we will enable every organization in the EU with the data governance they need to embark on their AI transformation journey with our end-to-end, Copilot-powered developer platform. By doing so, we aim to accelerate digital transformation and economic growth in the EU and across the planet." By 2027, the number of platform engineering teams using AI to augment every phase of the software development life cycle (SDLC) will increase from 5% to 40%, according to the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for AI Code Assistants. As organizations continue to embrace AI in the cloud to offer developers greater abstraction, automation, and flexibility across the software development lifecycle, GitHub Enterprise Cloud is designed to offer enterprises innovation without dealing with the complexities of performance, infrastructure, and availability. By providing GitHub Enterprise Cloud with data residency, GitHub is offering its customers to not just choose where their code lives, but to also choose a partner that understands the importance of safeguarding critical assets with reliable and secure infrastructure. We're already hearing from enterprises about the benefits they're seeing from this next version of GitHub Enterprise Cloud: By bringing data residency to GitHub Enterprise Cloud, GitHub is enabling innovation and accelerated speed to value for customers like never before. Earlier this year, GitHub introduced GitHub Copilot Enterprise so organizations of any size can leverage the full power of generative AI across their software development workflows with integrated DevOps features like GitHub Actions, Issues, Repositories, and Pull Requests. GitHub also launched a frictionless, cost-effective transaction experience for customers to seamlessly scale on GitHub and only pay for what they use. "Enterprises all over the world have growing concerns about where their data is hosted, whether that's for performance reasons, to ensure compliance or other preferences," said Stephen O'Grady, Principal Analyst with RedMonk. "GitHub Enterprise's new data residency capabilities were built to offer customers granular control over where their data resides and what can be done with it." GitHub Enterprise Cloud offers a robust platform designed to enhance productivity, collaboration, and agility in software development, while empowering customers with greater control over their data. Historically, customers seeking more control over their data have turned to GitHub Enterprise Server for self-hosting to maintain control. Now, with the upcoming availability of EU data residency in GitHub Enterprise Cloud, customers will be able to designate a storage location for their data, as well as access to the breadth and capabilities that our cloud solution enables. GitHub Enterprise Cloud operates on Microsoft Azure, a powerful and secure enterprise-grade cloud platform trusted by over 95% of Fortune 500 companies. Azure is secure by design and secure by default with built-in resiliency features for high-availability advanced encryption, and has security controls integrated into the hardware and firmware components. GitHub Enterprise Cloud leverages this functionality so that code is not only stored in the region a customer chooses, but is also protected by high standards around security and operational excellence. To help customers interested with a transition, migration tools are available for moving from GitHub Enterprise Server or other source code management tools to GitHub Enterprise Cloud. New and existing customers can leverage GitHub Enterprise Importer, GitHub Expert Services, third-party migration tools, or partner engagements to migrate their repositories. Beginning October 29, 2024, new and existing GitHub customers in the EU will be able to access the data residency feature of GitHub Enterprise Cloud, with availability expanding to regions including Australia, Asia, and Latin America coming next. This offering will be available only to customers with a dedicated GitHub or Microsoft account representative at this time.

GitHub will let any enterprise users store data in the EU

Enterprise cloud users will soon be able to store their GitHub data within the European Union. The move, which the company describes as, a "huge milestone" for customers, looks to address ongoing concerns and increasing demand for data localization and regulatory compliance, and could be particularly attractive to highlight regulated industries such as finance, healthcare and the public sector. Github is among a growing number getting on board with European data sovereignty, with support for EU data residency will roll out on October 29. While GitHub already allows customers of its self-hosted enterprise server to choose where data is stored, the new option adds more granular data residency controls to cloud customers. Despite being a new feature, it builds on the company's existing infrastructure by using the Microsoft Azure cloud network, which operates datacenters across Europe. VP of Engineering Jim Wang explained: "With this need met, even more developers across the globe can build on the world's AI-powered developer platform." Moreover, GitHub's move is a reflection of the entire industry. The likes of Amazon, Google and Microsoft have all addressed European demand for localized cloud in order for the region to maintain closer control over its data, technology and infrastructure. Recognizing that the trend may spread globally, GitHub also hinted at expanding data residency support to other regions, including Australia, Asia and Latin America. "In light of the mounting importance of data residency needs, there is a clear desire for organizations to have more control over where their most valuable asset, their code, is stored. GitHub recognizes this pressing need, and on October 29, we will offer the ability for all organizations to store their code in the EU," said GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke. "The timing is crucial as organizations in the EU and across the world are racing to empower their software developers with AI at every step to get ahead and win in the global market. With the data residency feature of GitHub Enterprise Cloud, we will enable every organization in the EU with the data governance they need to embark on their AI transformation journey with our end-to-end, Copilot-powered developer platform. By doing so, we aim to accelerate digital transformation and economic growth in the EU and across the planet."

GitHub will allow enterprise cloud customers to store data in the EU | TechCrunch

GitHub will soon allow cloud customers to store their code data in the European Union (EU), part of a growing push in the technology realm to meet regulatory requirements and customer expectations around data protection -- particularly where sensitive information might be at play, such as in the public sector or finance and health care industries. Starting from October 29, GitHub says that all enterprise cloud customers will be able to select an EU region to store all their code, though the company didn't specify which region(s) it will use or whether customers will be able to choose. GitHub's parent Microsoft has well over a dozen Azure cloud regions across the bloc. However, the move will likely placate at least some customers wanting to bring their data closer to home, given that data for all GitHub Enterprise Cloud customers today is stored in the U.S. Early adopters of the new data residency program include German manufacturer Zeiss and Volkswagen's software subsidiary Cariad. It's worth noting that GitHub already allows customers to choose where their data is stored as part of its self-hosted enterprise server product; the latest announcement extends this capability to cloud customers, specifically. Europe's growing digital sovereignty agenda, an effort designed to bolster the bloc's control over its own infrastructure, technology, data, and cybsersecurity, has led many U.S. companies to clamber in order to convince customers across the pond that they're serious not only about protecting their data, but putting the data in a place closer to home with greater granular controls attached to it. Microsoft has been pitching its data localization efforts to Azure customers, while Amazon, Google, and Oracle have been making similar noises. Infrastructure companies aside, the likes of Zoom and TikTok are also moving data closer to their customers in Europe -- all in the name of appeasing regulators and users on the ground. While GitHub's European data residency endeavors officially go live six weeks from now, the company confirmed that it will be introducing similar support for other regions in the future, including Australia, Asia, and Latin America. However, no time frame has been given as of yet. "Customer demand for local data residency is increasing around the world, not just in Europe," GitHub's chief legal officer, Shelley McKinley, told TechCrunch. "[But] we don't have specific dates yet; we're going to be listening and learning from this initial launch to figure out how fast we can do that." In effect, the launch is designed to encourage organizations either to transition over from the self-hosted product or sign up for GitHub enterprise cloud completely anew, in the knowledge that they will be able to choose to store company code locally. Indeed, GitHub offers cloud migration tools for those looking to make the move from enterprise server or from rival code-management platforms. There are several other mooted benefits of storing data locally, including lowering data-transfer latency. The closer a company is to its code, the faster the data transfer (in theory, at least) -- and this could prove beneficial for the AI gold rush permeating the world right now, particularly where AI-assisted software development is concerned. On that note, GitHub launched its AI Copilot product for enterprises earlier this year, a product that's only fully available through the cloud (a restricted version is available for self-host customers). So it could be argued that GitHub is indirectly using data residency to lure more customers onto its AI product. McKinley says that its data residency plans is more to do with "customer preference," rather than any particular regulatory directive. Indeed, the EU doesn't have blanket data residency rules, though some laws will indirectly influence where organizations choose to store data -- particularly GDPR, which has strong stipulations around cross-border data transfers. The incoming EU AI Act also intersects with all this and includes data governance provisions around certain kinds of AI systems. Ultimately, it's easier for companies to manage data when they have greater control over where it's stored. "It's really a customer preference issue, wanting to have your crown jewels -- your code -- stored in-region," McKinley said. "Also, being able to really take advantage of GitHub Copilot -- that's not really related to data residency, but it's about being able to take advantage of all the things the cloud brings you."