SAP's €20 Billion Investment in European Sovereign Cloud: Balancing Innovation and Data Sovereignty

SAP to invest €20B in European sovereign cloud push

German giant takes aim at US hyperscaler dominance as some EU customers fret amid Trump 2.0 rhetoric SAP says it will pump €20 billion into expanding sovereign cloud infrastructure in Europe over the next ten years, pitching itself as a secure and compliant alternative to American cloud giants. The Germany-based enterprise software biz is looking to provide sovereign infrastructure for the public sector and regulated environments, said Thomas Saueressig, board member for customer services and delivery. "With our expanded SAP Sovereign Cloud offering, SAP is unlocking access to the full spectrum of cloud innovations and AI capabilities for all markets and industries while ensuring these advancements are delivered in a sovereign framework and on customers' own terms." Data sovereignty in Europe is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For example, in Ireland, Meta was fined €1.2 billion for inadequately safeguarding the transfer of European residents' data to the US. SAP is offering three options for businesses concerned about data sovereignty and compliance. First is SAP Cloud Infrastructure, an IaaS platform developed and operated with open source technologies within SAP's datacenter network. The vendor said all data is to be stored within the EU to maintain compliance with GDPR. Secondly, SAP is offering a Sovereign Cloud On-Site within a customer-owned or customer-selected datacenter. It is designed to offer high levels of data, operational, technical, and legal sovereignty. Lastly, SAP is offering Delos Cloud in Germany, which it says offers a secure and sovereign cloud flexible enough to meet country-specific sovereignty requirements. "The digital resilience of Europe depends on sovereignty that is secure, scalable and future-ready," said Martin Merz, president, SAP Sovereign Cloud. However, in June, SAP CEO Christian Klein warned against any efforts to compete with US cloud hyperscalers in Europe. He said SAP had struck deals with French AI company Mistral and business services company Capgemini to support customers concerned about data sovereignty in Europe, but saw no point in replicating the effort at the level of cloud infrastructure. "The only thing I would caution against in Europe is this: the competitiveness of Europe's car industry or chemical industry will not be by building 20 different datacenters in France and trying to compete against the US hyperscalers," Klein said. "It's completely crazy, and that is sovereignty completely done in the wrong way. We need the best here in Europe to apply AI, to apply intelligent software to be the best, to produce much better, much faster cars, and be way more efficient running our supply chains." While SAP AI and data storage offers customers "complete sovereignty from the top to the bottom," US providers are also marketing data sovereignty solutions in Europe in a bid to counter concerns among some governments and commercial customers worried about the Trump 2.0 administration. AWS, Google, and Microsoft have all responded to concerns that experts began to voice in February, weeks after the bombastic US president was sworn in. An SAP spokesperson said the new investment covers the development, delivery, and maintenance of SAP's sovereign cloud solutions, including infrastructure, research and development, operating personnel, and compliance investments. The company said Klein's caution was against wasting resources on trying to replicate hyperscalers' global infrastructure at massive scale - "prioritizing code over building concrete." His message was that Europe's competitiveness will come from software, AI, and applied innovation, not from duplicating datacenter capacity. SAP's €20 billion investment is set to be a "targeted at full-stack sovereignty and ensures that Europe has choice and control where sovereignty matters most" such as in the public sector, regulated industries, and defense, the spokesperson said. It is set to build on SAP's existing European datacenter footprint in Walldorf, Sankt Leon-Rot, and Frankfurt, while expanding capabilities with sovereign controls, new deployments at customer locations, and working with sovereign partners like Delos Cloud in Germany. "SAP isn't competing with hyperscalers on scale or entering the IaaS business, but ensures that Europe can adopt cloud and AI securely, under European control. The investment is about building sovereignty into the stack - not about duplicating hyperscaler concrete," they said. ®

SAP to invest over 20 billion euros in 'sovereign cloud' in boost to Europe's AI ambitions

A person holds a smartphone displaying the logo of SAP, a German multinational software corporation known for its enterprise resource planning solutions. German software giant SAP on Tuesday announced it will invest over 20 billion euros ($23.3 billion) into its sovereign cloud capabilities in Europe over the next 10 years. The company said it was expanding its sovereign cloud offerings to include an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform enabling companies to access various computing services via its data center network. IaaS is a market dominated by players like Microsoft and Amazon. It will also roll out a new on-site option that allows customers to use SAP-operated infrastructure within their own data centers. The aim of the initiative is to ensure that customer data is stored within the European Union to maintain compliance with regional data protection regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. "Innovation and sovereignty cannot be two separate things -- it needs to come together," Thomas Saueressig, SAP's board member tasked with leading customer services and delivery, said during a virtual press conference Tuesday. He added that it was important for European companies to be able to access the latest technological advancements such as artificial intelligence "in a full sovereign context."

SAP to Invest $23 Billion in Europe Sovereign Cloud | PYMNTS.com

The new investment underpins an expanded SAP Sovereign Cloud portfolio, which gives European customers access to a full technology stack while keeping sensitive data under local control, compliant with European regulations. The investment spans a decade, according to a Tuesday CNBC report. Unlike global public clouds run by providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud, which often distribute data across international data centers, a sovereign cloud is built to keep data and workloads within a country or region, operating under local laws. The approach has grown in importance as European regulators tighten rules around data privacy and security through frameworks like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the EU AI Act. SAP's expanded offering includes an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platform built with open-source technologies and hosted entirely within EU-based data centers. SAP is also offering to operate cloud infrastructure directly in a customer's own or chosen data center, and introduced a Germany-specific cloud, Delos Cloud, designed to meet German rules. SAP's push reflects a broader trend among cloud providers. In July, AWS announced that it was launching a new sovereign cloud for Europe by the end of the year In June, Microsoft introduced its sovereign public cloud offering for all European data center regions. The company said the data stays in Europe, complies with European laws and is controlled by European personnel. This follows its EU Data Boundary completion in February. In May, Google Cloud also announced a data boundary service that lets clients control where their content is stored and processed. It rolled out Google Cloud Dedicated to meet local sovereignty requirements and Google Cloud Air-Gapped for intelligence, defense and sensitive sectors.

SAP Deepens European Cloud Sovereignty Offering to Unlock Regional AI Innovation

Decades of SAP's experience in securing mission-critical operations now powers the demands of sovereignty, regulation, and AI-driven growth WALLDORF, Germany, Sept. 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced a comprehensive new approach to digital sovereignty and AI innovation. Expanded offerings within the SAP Sovereign Cloud portfolio give European customers access to a comprehensive technology stack, including SAP Cloud Infrastructure and SAP Sovereign Cloud On-Site. With the announcement, SAP sets a new standard for secure, compliant, and scalable innovation, reinforcing digital sovereignty as a core element of Europe's technological resilience and strategic autonomy. "Europe's leadership in the next era of digital innovation -- especially in AI -- will depend on how effectively we apply AI to solve differentiated industry use cases," said Thomas Saueressig, Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Customer Services & Delivery. "With our expanded SAP Sovereign Cloud offering, SAP is unlocking access to the full spectrum of cloud innovations and AI capabilities for all markets and industries -- including the public sector and regulated environments -- while ensuring these advancements are delivered in a sovereign framework and on customers' own terms." Deployment choices for every security profile With the expansion of SAP Sovereign Cloud, customers can choose from new deployment models that offer control across infrastructure, platform, and software tailored to their specific regulatory and operational needs. This flexibility enables organizations to innovate securely and in compliance with local laws while maintaining the freedom to scale on their own terms. SAP Sovereign Cloud solutions are available on: Long-term Investment in Europe's digital resilience With a long-term investment of more than €20 billion Euros, SAP is making digital sovereignty a strategic priority. This commitment reflects SAP's determination to support Europe's digital autonomy through more secure, local, and regulation-compliant cloud solutions tailored to the public sector and highly regulated industries. With SAP Sovereign Cloud, customers not only gain infrastructure control but also unlock the full potential of cloud solutions from SAP. The offering enables organizations to run their SAP Business Suite in sovereign environments while benefiting from continuous innovation cycles, including SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) and embedded SAP Business AI capabilities. This helps ensure that customers can innovate more securely and locally without compromising on the pace or depth of transformation. "The digital resilience of Europe depends on sovereignty that is secure, scalable and future-ready," said Martin Merz, President, SAP Sovereign Cloud. "SAP's full-stack sovereign cloud offering delivers exactly that, giving customers the freedom to choose their deployment model while helping ensure compliance up to the highest standards." Today, SAP Sovereign Cloud is available in multiple countries with substantial additions to come, supported by hundreds of localized delivery experts and a broad set of certifications. The offer helps ensure full-stack sovereignty across data, operational, technical, and legal dimensions, empowering customers to maintain control, meet regulatory requirements, and innovate with confidence. Visit the SAP News Center. Get SAP news via LinkedIn and Bluesky. About SAP As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, SAP (NYSE:SAP) stands at the nexus of business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted SAP to bring out their best by uniting business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit www.sap.com. This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of SAP's 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F. © 2025 SAP SE. All rights reserved. SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices. 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