SUSE has unveiled its Sovereign Premium Support, a support service designed to meet stringent demands for digital sovereignty across the European Union. Named as such to reflect both its locality and commitment, the service offers EU-based support engineers and service managers, along with data storage confined to networks within the EU, guaranteeing compliance with regional regulations and data privacy expectations.
Geopolitical shifts, evolving regulations and rising concerns over data control have pushed sovereign infrastructure into the mainstream of IT strategies across both public and private sectors. IDC research cited by SUSE indicates that over 80% of organisations in Europe are using or plan to implement sovereign cloud solutions by the end of 2025.
Dirk‑Peter van Leeuwen, SUSE’s CEO, said their company’s long-standing European roots – with headquarters in Luxembourg and development centres in Germany and the Czech Republic – offer an advantage over non-EU providers and align with the growing need for in‑region control. “Digital sovereignty has become a really hot topic… companies feel an increasing need to get things done in‑region within Europe, with less dependency on non‑European vendors,” he told The Register.
The new support tiers – Silver, Gold and Platinum – promise varying degrees of access, from named support staff to 24/7 response times, on‑site days and encrypted data handling. EU‑based support personnel ensure that sensitive data, including system logs generated during incident resolution, never leave the jurisdiction and are encrypted end‑to‑end.
Sectors such as defence, healthcare, finance and telecoms have been early adopters, with heightened oversight in areas like government and law enforcement, but the offering is aimed at a broader market. The Register reports that some customers are paying approximately 15% more for this enterprise-grade sovereignty support.
This move positions SUSE as a strong European counterpart to American hyperscalers such as AWS and Microsoft, which have launched EU‑focused services, including AWS’s new regional cloud and Microsoft’s Data Boundary initiatives. SUSE, by contrast, offers an open‑source foundation with support designed and delivered from within Europe – an increasingly significant differentiator.
Analysts view this as a wider trend. IDC’s Rahiel Nasir classified 2025 as “a watershed year” for digital sovereignty, noting interest spanning regulated and non‑regulated industries as geopolitical uncertainties intensify. Techzine describes the service as a strategic tool to accelerate the continent’s adoption of sovereign solutions.
Beyond data storage, SUSE emphasises that genuine sovereignty encompasses full control over personnel, operations and infrastructure. That is the “entire IT stack”, according to SUSE senior executives, rather than just keeping data local. The service offers named Premium Support Engineers and Service Delivery Managers, ensuring familiarity with each client’s infrastructure and more proactive engagement.
This approach reflects SUSE’s core creed of being “open by design, sovereign by choice”, rooted in open‑source principles that facilitate transparency and avoid vendor lock‑in. The open‑source model underpins interoperability across diverse environments, while EU‑based support operations reinforce regional trust.
While hyperscalers are responding with their own sovereignty services, SUSE’s local‑first open‑source strategy may appeal more to organisations seeking avoidance of platform dependencies, particularly in regulated infrastructure. SuSE itself does not host its own cloud infrastructure, focusing instead on support and software layers.
Early reaction from industry players like Fsas Technologies Europe underscores a shift in enterprise expectations. Udo Wuertz, CDO of the company, applauded SUSE’s “deep understanding of regional needs and now enhanced EU‑based support”, saying it allows better alignment to customers’ sovereignty demands.
Market adoption now centres on whether customers will embrace the premium pricing in return for compliance, operational resilience and long‑term sovereignty. SUSE expresses confidence: this launch is an evolution of its three‑decade heritage in open source and regional presence.
