Dell Technologies and SAP Strengthen Sovereign Cloud Strategy with Private Data Center Option
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Key Takeaways
The strengthened partnership between Dell Technologies and SAP focuses on data sovereignty, integrating SAP RISE Private Cloud Edition into customer data centers to meet enterprise demands for cloud benefits while maintaining control over sensitive data.
Organizations can benefit from the Dell APEX Infrastructure-as-a-Service model, which allows for operational expenditure over capital expenditure, reducing costs associated with overprovisioning and offering a flexible, consumption-based pricing structure.
With a 28-year collaboration and over 18,000 joint customers, Dell and SAP provide proven deployment methods that enhance implementation timelines and reduce project complexity while allowing enterprises to modernize within strict compliance frameworks.
Dell Technologies and SAP are strengthening their partnership on data sovereignty by integrating SAP RISE Private Cloud Edition directly into customer data centers. This collaboration responds to rising enterprise demands for cloud benefits without compromising control over sensitive data, especially as regulatory pressures increase across Europe and other regions emphasizing digital sovereignty.
The partnership uses Dell’s APEX Infrastructure-as-a-Service platform to provide SAP RISE Private Cloud Edition – Customer Data Center (PE-CDC), allowing organizations to run critical SAP workloads on-premises or in colocation facilities while offering cloud-like flexibility and cost-effectiveness. This strategy is an alternative to the hyperscaler model by keeping data within organizational and national boundaries.
SAP’s €20 billion commitment to European digital sovereignty over the next decade highlights the strategic significance of this market shift. The investment shows enterprise reluctance regarding public cloud dependencies, especially in regulated industries where data residency requirements and operational control are critical concerns.
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Measurable Benefits Drive Adoption
Real-world deployments showcase tangible benefits from the Dell-SAP sovereign cloud approach. Clark County, Nevada, successfully migrated to SAP HANA infrastructure provided by Dell, leading to improved citizen services and increased operational efficiency across government functions. The deployment demonstrated how public sector organizations can modernize legacy systems while adhering to strict data governance standards.
German bottler Gerolsteiner represents another compelling use case, upgrading to SAP S/4HANA with Dell edge computing infrastructure. The implementation dramatically reduced system restore times from 24 hours to 30 minutes while supporting sustainability initiatives. These performance gains directly translate to improvements in business continuity and reduced risk exposure.
The technical foundation combines Dell PowerEdge servers with all-flash storage systems, delivering real-time analytics capabilities and massive memory capacity for fast data analysis. Dell’s AI Factory integration enables advanced analytics workloads within SAP environments, supporting AI-driven business workloads.
From a financial perspective, Dell APEX’s operational expenditure model eliminates waste through overprovisioning by offering consumption-based pricing. Organizations pay only for the resources they utilize, while benefiting from simplified lifecycle management that frees IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than infrastructure maintenance.
Strategic Partnership Momentum
The Dell-SAP alliance spans 28 years and encompasses over 18,000 joint customers, providing substantial market validation for the sovereign cloud approach. This established relationship enables rapid deployment and comprehensive support across complex enterprise environments, reducing implementation risk for many customers.
The collaboration specifically targets organizations seeking to avoid hyperscaler lock-in while accelerating digital transformation initiatives. By maintaining complete control over data and infrastructure, enterprises can pursue aggressive modernization strategies without compromising regulatory compliance or competitive requirements.
What This Means for SAPinsiders
Sovereign cloud becomes a mainstream competitive advantage. Technology executives should now evaluate data sovereignty as a strategic differentiator, not just a compliance requirement. The Dell-SAP partnership validates that enterprise-grade cloud economics are achievable without surrendering data control to hyperscalers. Organizations in regulated industries particularly benefit from this approach, as they can modernize SAP landscapes while satisfying stringent data residency requirements.
Infrastructure procurement strategies may need urgent reassessment. Traditional capital expenditure models for SAP infrastructure are being replaced by consumption-based options that offer greater financial flexibility. The Dell APEX model enables SAP teams to scale resources dynamically while maintaining predictable operational costs, thereby minimizing the inefficiencies of overprovisioning. Financial planning becomes more agile, with infrastructure costs directly aligned with business growth patterns.
Implementation timelines and risk profiles improve markedly. The 28-year Dell-SAP partnership offers proven deployment methods that lower project complexity compared to alternatives. SAP teams can utilize established integration patterns and support frameworks, reducing the learning curve when adopting a sovereign cloud. Organizations like Gerolsteiner show that advanced implementations can achieve significant improvements in system reliability and recovery capabilities.
