The more important cloud infrastructures become, the greater the focus on transparency, the ability to switch providers and technological control. For this representative study, Bitkom Research surveyed 603 companies in Germany with at least 20 employees.

The key role of the public sector

Respondents attribute a key role to the public sector. 90 per cent believe that government bodies should rely more heavily on European or sovereign cloud solutions. Many companies see the state not only as a regulator, but also as a user and role model.

Public procurement, in particular, can influence which requirements become established in the market. If open standards, interoperability, data portability and the ability to switch providers are taken into account right from the tender stage, digital sovereignty becomes a concrete criterion for IT infrastructures.

This concerns not only the question of where a cloud is operated. Equally relevant is the extent to which organisations retain control over their data and technical decisions.

Sovereignty requires transparency

Many companies still see shortcomings in this area. 87 per cent feel that sovereign cloud services from international providers lack sufficient transparency regarding data processing and access rights. Moreover, more than half regard the legal and regulatory requirements for such services as unclear or inconsistent.

A data centre in Germany or Europe alone is not sufficient to assess digital sovereignty. Companies and public authorities must be able to ascertain who processes data, what access options exist and what legal framework a provider is subject to.

Added to this is the technical perspective: are interfaces openly documented? Can data be exported in full? And can an organisation modify its infrastructure at a later date or switch to another provider?

Lock-in restricts freedom of choice

The relevance of such questions becomes apparent, if not before, then certainly when switching providers. 59 per cent of cloud-using companies cite lock-in effects as an obstacle to switching providers. This makes them the most frequently cited barrier to switching. Difficult data exports, complex migrations or tightly integrated applications can mean that a decision once made can only be reversed at considerable cost.

The ability to switch providers should not only come into play when a provider is actually due to be replaced. It must be part of the strategy from the outset.

Open interfaces, portable data and interoperable systems can help to limit dependencies and maintain technological flexibility. The Cloud Report also recommends considering switching options at an early stage and specifically reducing lock-in risks.

In this sense, digital sovereignty does not mean isolation. It is about being able to decide for oneself, even in the long term, which technologies are used and how one’s own infrastructure is designed.

Open source provides greater control and freedom of choice

Open source code makes technical structures more transparent and enables independent audits. At the same time, open standards and interfaces facilitate integration into existing IT landscapes and can reduce dependence on individual vendors.

However, this alone does not make an infrastructure sovereign. The interplay between software, operating model, infrastructure, data protection, access rights and governance needs to be examined more closely here.

As an open-source platform for file management and digital collaboration, OpenCloud relies on open interfaces and flexible operating models. Organisations can operate the platform within their own infrastructure or use it as a hosted solution. This allows them to retain control over where and how their data is processed, and to integrate the platform into existing IT landscapes. Open technologies and standards help to reduce long-term dependencies on individual providers.

Conclusion: sovereignty requires genuine choice

The Bitkom Cloud Report 2026 shows that digital sovereignty is becoming increasingly important for German companies. However, a lack of transparency, regulatory uncertainties and lock-in effects make it difficult to reduce existing dependencies.

This makes open standards, interoperable systems and flexible operating models all the more important. They create the conditions that enable companies and public institutions to retain control over their data and IT infrastructure and to make their own technological decisions in the long term.