The Case of Sovereignty
The Case of Sovereignty
Most organisations didn't choose to become dependent on Big Tech. It happened gradually — one free tool at a time. This page is about why that matters, and what a deliberate alternative looks like.
Most organisations didn't choose to become dependent on Big Tech. It happened gradually — one free tool at a time. This page is about why that matters, and what a deliberate alternative looks like.
Dependency vs Sovereignity
Dependency vs Sovereignity
See how your workflow transforms when everything finally works together.
Cloud Dependency
Infrastructure Sovereignty
Cloud Dependency
Infrastructure Sovereignty
Your data sits in a jurisdiction you did not choose
Your data sits in a location you define and control
Your data sits in a jurisdiction you did not choose
Your data sits in a location you define and control
Vendor terms can change — and your compliance changes with them
Your governance is independent of any vendor's policy decisions
Vendor terms can change — and your compliance changes with them
Your governance is independent of any vendor's policy decisions
A price increase is not a negotiation — it's a notification
Infrastructure costs are predictable and owned by you
A price increase is not a negotiation — it's a notification
Infrastructure costs are predictable and owned by you
A breach at the vendor level is your breach too
Your risk surface is bounded by systems you control
A breach at the vendor level is your breach too
Your risk surface is bounded by systems you control
Access logs exist — but you don't own them
Every access event is recorded in audit logs you hold
Access logs exist — but you don't own them
Every access event is recorded in audit logs you hold
'Deleting' data means trusting the vendor deleted it
Deletion is verifiable and provable
'Deleting' data means trusting the vendor deleted it
Deletion is verifiable and provable
Compliance depends on a third party staying compliant
Compliance is a function of your own architecture
Compliance depends on a third party staying compliant
Compliance is a function of your own architecture
Cloud Tradeoffs
Cloud Tradeoffs
Cloud services are sold on convenience. The trade-offs — and there are several — rarely appear in the sales process.
Trade-off 1: Convenience for Control
Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are genuinely well-built products. The cost of using them is not the subscription fee — it is the continuous, irrevocable delegation of data authority to a third party operating under their own terms, in their own jurisdiction, with their own incident timelines.
Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are genuinely well-built products. The cost of using them is not the subscription fee — it is the continuous, irrevocable delegation of data authority to a third party operating under their own terms, in their own jurisdiction, with their own incident timelines.
Trade-off 2: Scalability for Predictability
Cloud pricing scales with usage — but not always transparently. Storage tiers, egress fees, seat licensing, and API costs can compound. Infrastructure you own has a fixed cost profile. There are no surprise invoices at the end of the month.
Cloud pricing scales with usage — but not always transparently. Storage tiers, egress fees, seat licensing, and API costs can compound. Infrastructure you own has a fixed cost profile. There are no surprise invoices at the end of the month.
Trade-off 3: Integration Ease for Audit Integrity
The integrations that make cloud platforms powerful — third-party apps, connected services, platform APIs — also expand your data's footprint. Every integration is a potential exposure. Sovereign infrastructure connects only what you deliberately authorise.
The integrations that make cloud platforms powerful — third-party apps, connected services, platform APIs — also expand your data's footprint. Every integration is a potential exposure. Sovereign infrastructure connects only what you deliberately authorise.
Trade-off 4: Vendor Compliance for Your Compliance
Your cloud provider may be GDPR-compliant. But compliance is not transitive. Your regulator, your LPs, and your clients are asking about your data practices — not Google's. Infrastructure sovereignty means you can answer those questions directly, with evidence.
Your cloud provider may be GDPR-compliant. But compliance is not transitive. Your regulator, your LPs, and your clients are asking about your data practices — not Google's. Infrastructure sovereignty means you can answer those questions directly, with evidence.
The Failure modes nobody talks about
The Failure modes nobody talks about
Cloud infrastructure fails in ways that are difficult to audit, slow to surface, and often invisible until it is too late.
Silent third-party access
Sub-processors — the vendors your cloud provider uses — may have access to your data without your active knowledge. Reading a privacy policy is not the same as knowing who can access your files right now.
Sub-processors — the vendors your cloud provider uses — may have access to your data without your active knowledge. Reading a privacy policy is not the same as knowing who can access your files right now.
Policy-driven data exposure
Platform policies can change. A change in Terms of Service, a government request, or a law enforcement order can result in data access that you have no mechanism to prevent or even observe.
Platform policies can change. A change in Terms of Service, a government request, or a law enforcement order can result in data access that you have no mechanism to prevent or even observe.
Compliance drift
Regulations evolve — GDPR enforcement guidance, UK data protection law, sector-specific rules, LP requirements. When your compliance depends on a vendor, you inherit their interpretation of these rules. That is not a stable foundation.
Regulations evolve — GDPR enforcement guidance, UK data protection law, sector-specific rules, LP requirements. When your compliance depends on a vendor, you inherit their interpretation of these rules. That is not a stable foundation.
Lock-in without exit
Migrating away from a cloud platform is far harder than adopting it. Data formats, integrations, and workflows become entangled. The exit cost is rarely calculated at the point of sign-up — but it is always there.
Migrating away from a cloud platform is far harder than adopting it. Data formats, integrations, and workflows become entangled. The exit cost is rarely calculated at the point of sign-up — but it is always there.
Breach attribution ambiguity
When a breach occurs at a cloud provider, the affected organisations face a difficult question: what was accessed, by whom, and for how long? Sovereign infrastructure makes the forensics tractable. Cloud breaches often don't.