DRaaS

For European organisations, disaster recovery is no longer just a technical concern; it is a regulatory and strategic one. Using a Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) platform on top of a genuinely European Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provider helps you protect business continuity while staying aligned with GDPR and European data sovereignty expectations.

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Data sovereignty and GDPR: the backdrop

GDPR is built on the idea that EU personal data must remain under the effective protection of EU law, regardless of where it is processed. That means any outsourcing of infrastructure, storage, or recovery must still respect European rules on security, transparency, international transfers, and data subject rights.

Data sovereignty adds another layer: it is about ensuring that your data, and the systems that store it, are not quietly pulled under the jurisdiction of non‑European laws that could force disclosure or restrict access without going through EU safeguards. For DR and backup, this is critical, because those environments often contain complete copies of your most sensitive data.

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The risk of non‑EU ties

Many global cloud and IaaS providers are subject to foreign legislation with extraterritorial reach. In practice, this can create scenarios where authorities outside Europe can request access to data, even when it is physically hosted in an EU data centre. That tension between foreign access rights and GDPR’s strict rules on disclosure and international transfers is exactly what European regulators and policymakers have been warning about.

When your DRaaS relies on such infrastructure, your “safety net” may sit in a legal grey zone. In a crisis, you do not only need systems to come back online quickly; you also need to be confident that your recovery path does not expose you to unexpected legal, compliance, or reputation risks.

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Why a purely European IaaS matters

Choosing a European IaaS provider without corporate or legal ties outside Europe is one of the strongest ways to reduce those risks. Such a provider:

• Operates under EU (and possibly EEA) jurisdiction only, limiting exposure to conflicting foreign laws.
• Aligns its contracts, processes, and governance specifically with GDPR and European data protection standards.
• Can participate in European “sovereign cloud” or “trusted cloud” initiatives that aim to guarantee that control over data and metadata remains in European hands.

When your DRaaS runs on top of this kind of IaaS, your disaster recovery environment becomes an extension of your European compliance posture instead of a potential weak point.

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DRaaS requirements under GDPR

GDPR explicitly requires that organisations can restore availability and access to personal data in a timely manner after an incident, and that they regularly test and evaluate the effectiveness of their security and recovery measures. In practice, this means your DRaaS solution must deliver:

• Reliable, tested recovery of critical systems and data within defined recovery time and recovery point objectives.
• Strong technical and organisational security measures, including encryption, access control, and monitoring.
• Clear roles and responsibilities between you (as controller) and your providers (as processors), with appropriate contractual safeguards.

Using a European IaaS provider for DRaaS helps ensure these requirements are met without introducing additional risks through complex international transfer mechanisms or foreign jurisdiction claims.

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Key characteristics to look for

When selecting a European IaaS partner for DRaaS and GDPR alignment, focus on:

• Jurisdiction and ownership
  The provider should be headquartered in Europe, owned and controlled within Europe, and not part of a group subject to non‑European “cloud” or surveillance laws.
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• Location of data and metadata
  All data, backups, logs, and operational metadata should remain in European data centres, with clear guarantees in contracts and technical design.
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• Security and encryption
  The platform should support encryption in transit and at rest, with options for you to control or escrow keys under EU‑governed arrangements.
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• Transparency and auditability
  You should have clear visibility into where your data resides, who can access it, and how access is controlled and logged, including support for audits and certifications relevant to the EU context.
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• Integration with your DRaaS
  The IaaS must support automated failover, regular testing, and non‑disruptive exercises so DRaaS can be a living, verifiable part of your resilience strategy, not just a document on paper.

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Turning infrastructure choice into a compliance asset

Infrastructure decisions are often treated as purely technical, but for European organisations they are also legal and strategic. By building DRaaS on a European IaaS provider without ties outside the EU, you transform your disaster recovery environment into a compliance asset: a place where business continuity, GDPR obligations, and data sovereignty are aligned instead of in tension.

In a world of increasing cyber‑risk, regulatory scrutiny, and geopolitical complexity, that alignment is not just “nice to have” – it is a cornerstone of a credible, future‑proof resilience strategy for any organisation handling European data.

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