Deutsche Telekom Joins Force with France’s OVHcloud to Take on Cloud Computing in Europe
On Monday, Deutsche Telekom and France’s OVHcloud plan a new cloud computing for European companies and the public sector.
Gartner says that the Franco-German partnership is the first attempt to provide a European alternative to Microsoft, Amazon, and Google in cloud computing. In the future, this business is expected to grow by 6.3% in 2020 to $257.9 billion due to the lockdowns as many people work from home.
The three U.S. companies had a combined worldwide market share of 60% in the second quarter, according to market research.
In Europe, this dominance has raised several concerns about sensitive corporate data that could be spied on. This is due to the adoption of the U.S. CLOUD Act of 2018 and in the absence of any major competitors.
In a joint statement, Deutsche Telekom’s arms division T-Systems and OVHcloud said “This new offering will address the specific needs of the public sector, as well as essential infrastructure operators and companies of all sizes operating in strategic or sensitive areas of public interest.”
The cloud platform will target “all sectors sensitive to data sovereignty” and to the EU-wide data protection rules, or GDPR, the two groups added.
Amazon, Microsoft, and Google say they abide by EU rules and make sure they protect the data customers entrust them.
However, many analysts remain skeptical about the ability of any European newcomer to affect the dominance of U.S. companies. This is because these companies have spent heavy sums over the last few years which put them ahead in the race.
Frank Strecker, Head of Deutsche Telekom’s public cloud, said “To make a sovereign European cloud infrastructure successful we need to scale fast.” Adding “And we need the support of the public sector.”
OVHcloud, based in Roubaix near Belgium, employs 2,200 people and has 30 data centers worldwide. In 2019, it generated 600 million euros in sales. T-Systems has total sales of 6.8 billion euros.