SAP has announced a significant investment in its Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) operations, involving the establishment of secure facilities and the creation of up to 70 new full-time specialist roles to support the general availability of its sovereign cloud capabilities in the region.
Government entities at both the state and federal levels, along with highly regulated industry customers, will be among the first to access SAP’s sovereign cloud capabilities. Such organizations are increasingly subject to cybersecurity reporting and security risk management requirements, which include data residency considerations.
Sovereign cloud capabilities from SAP meet the requirements of government and highly regulated industries, providing managed services and cloud solutions to customers in the ANZ region. By adopting SAP’s sovereign cloud capabilities, these customers can ensure compliance and mitigate risks associated with data management and cybersecurity.
The investment in SAP’s sovereign cloud capabilities acknowledges the growing demand for robust and secure platforms, particularly for customers operating in highly regulated environments. The new service allows for the storage and processing of protected-level workloads, ensuring that critical business and personal data remains within Australia unless explicitly authorized by the customer.
Currently, SAP’s sovereign cloud capabilities are available for various solutions, including SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Analytics Cloud and the Business Technology Platform.
To ensure the highest level of security and compliance, SAP’s sovereign cloud capabilities make use of certified hyper scalers that have been deemed ‘Strategic’ through the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Hosting Certification Framework (HCF). These hyper scalers are assessed to support workloads up to and including the protected level.
Damien Bueno, president and managing director, SAP Australia and New Zealand, said: “With increased focus on supply chains, skills and business innovation many of our customers are choosing to digitise their operations to manage the pace of change by leveraging advanced cloud applications and platforms. Those in highly regulated sectors and organisations seeking supply chain assurance have historically found it a challenge to fully leverage cloud advancements due to heightened regulatory, data sovereignty and cybersecurity requirements.
“Many of these customers are longstanding and strategic partners of SAP and we closely identify with their ambition to be progressive and deliver high quality and more responsive services, in an environment where the bar for digital engagement and productivity rises continuously. With SAP’s global investment in sovereign cloud capabilities, we are offering these organisations in ANZ the opportunity to capitalise on the existing portfolio of SAP’s leading business processes delivered and supported, as a service within the sovereign borders of Australia.”