Industry leaders reconsidered data location due to sovereignty risks: Survey

A survey of industry leaders across nine countries revealed that 100% of them had to reconsider data location due to sovereignty risks:

Research conducted by the data storage technology and services provider Pure Storage in collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney revealed industry leaders’ serious concerns about the security of their data storage options and how their strategies need to evolve to meet new technological and geopolitical challenges.

“Organisations now face potential revenue loss, regulatory penalties, and irreparable damage to stakeholder trust if these risks are not proactively addressed,” noted Pure Storage in a press note.

92% of those surveyed said geopolitical shifts are increasing sovereignty risks, while the same percentage warned that inadequate sovereignty planning could lead to reputational damage.

Meanwhile, 85% of those surveyed identified loss of customer trust as the ultimate consequence of inaction. 78% of the surveyed leaders are already embracing different data strategies. These include multi service provider strategies, adopting sovereign data centres, and embedding enhanced governance requirements in contracts.

“The potential consequences of not having a modern and realistic data sovereignty strategy are acute. Loss of trust, financial damage and competitive disadvantage are possible outcomes that cannot be ignored. We recommend a hybrid approach to data sovereignty: start with a risk assessment across workloads, keep critical workloads sovereign, and use the public cloud for the rest. A balanced strategy optimises reducing risk while maintaining speed of innovation and organisational resilience,” said Alex McMullan, Chief Technology Officer, International, Pure Storage.