Discover how AWS–SAP sovereign cloud advances digital sovereignty and why automation and operational control are critical for compliant SAP landscapes.
In January 2026, digital sovereignty shifted from strategy discussions to tangible infrastructure execution. With the advancement of the European Sovereign Cloud initiative by Amazon Web Services (AWS), enterprises across the EU gained a clearer pathway to address data residency, regulatory control, and jurisdictional requirements in the cloud. For organizations running mission-critical workloads on SAP, this development is strategically significant.
The question is no longer:
Can SAP run in the cloud?
It has been doing so successfully for more than a decade.
The real question now is:
Can SAP operate in a sovereign, compliant, and operationally controlled cloud environment?
As regulatory scrutiny increases and geopolitical sensitivity around data jurisdiction intensifies, the long-standing AWS–SAP collaboration becomes more relevant than ever.
In this blog post, we’ll examine what this partnership truly means for regulated enterprises.
AWS and SAP have worked together since 2008, when AWS became the first cloud provider certified to run SAP workloads.
Today:
Thousands of SAP customers operate on AWS globally
AWS provides SAP-certified EC2 instances optimized for SAP HANA
AWS is a strategic infrastructure provider for RISE with SAP
Both organizations jointly support regulated industry customers
This is not a tactical alignment, but a deeply integrated ecosystem partnership.
Digital sovereignty is no longer a policy conversation; it is an executive requirement. For SAP customers in regulated industries and the public sector, the focus has shifted from whether sovereignty matters to how to implement it without sacrificing innovation, scalability, or automation.
AWS and SAP have collaborated for over 15 years. In recent years, that partnership has expanded to directly address sovereignty requirements, particularly in Europe.
In practical terms, digital sovereignty includes:
Strict data residency within defined geographic boundaries
Operational governance aligned with regional legal frameworks
Controlled access to infrastructure and encryption keys
Transparent cloud operations and compliance documentation
Auditability and traceability across environments
For European SAP customers, this intersects directly with GDPR and industry-specific regulatory mandates.
The challenge is balancing sovereignty with operational agility.
AWS announced plans for a dedicated European Sovereign Cloud to address EU sovereignty and regulatory requirements.
Publicly stated characteristics include:
Infrastructure located entirely within the European Union
Operated by EU-based personnel
Independent governance structure
In parallel, SAP has expanded its sovereign cloud portfolio and EU data residency capabilities within its cloud offerings and RISE with SAP programs.
In summary, SAP workloads require certified infrastructure, and AWS provides SAP-certified infrastructure aligned with European sovereignty demands.
For organizations running:
SAP S/4HANA
SAP BW/4HANA
SAP GTS
SAP ECC
RISE with SAP
The AWS–SAP collaboration provides:
Certified SAP Infrastructure: High-memory EC2 instances optimized and certified for SAP HANA workloads.
EU Data Residency: Deployment within EU regions aligned with regulatory requirements.
Enterprise-Grade Security: Customer-managed encryption keys, robust IAM controls, and comprehensive compliance frameworks.
Mature Joint Support Model: Coordinated escalation paths and architectural alignment between AWS and SAP.
Here’s where many organizations underestimate the challenge. Deploying SAP into a sovereign-capable cloud environment does not automatically solve:
Transport governance
System refresh traceability
Cross-landscape orchestration
Audit transparency
Sovereign infrastructure provides the foundation. Operational sovereignty requires orchestration, automation, and full visibility across the SAP landscape.
This is where platforms like IT-Conductor complement the AWS–SAP ecosystem, ensuring that governance, automation, and compliance operate cohesively within sovereign cloud architectures.
Organizations adopting sovereign cloud architectures should ask:
Are transport changes centrally governed and auditable?
Are system refreshes automated with complete traceability?
Can compliance evidence be generated on demand?
Is orchestration unified across hybrid SAP landscapes?
Digital sovereignty without operational control increases complexity. Operational control without sovereign infrastructure introduces regulatory risk. The AWS–SAP partnership delivers the infrastructure layer. Automation ensures sovereignty becomes sustainable.
The AWS–SAP relationship is not a marketing initiative; it is a long-term technical collaboration evolving alongside regulatory and geopolitical realities.
For regulated enterprises, the conversation has shifted:
From “Can SAP run in the cloud?”
To “Can SAP run sovereignly, securely, and operationally controlled in the cloud?”
The answer increasingly lies in combining SAP-certified sovereign infrastructure, strong governance frameworks, and automation and orchestration platforms.
Overall, digital sovereignty is not about isolation; it is about control, and control requires both infrastructure alignment and operational intelligence.
Ready to see how operational control and SAP landscape governance work in practice? Explore how IT-Conductor helps organizations complement sovereign-ready infrastructure from Amazon Web Services and enterprise workloads from SAP with automation, orchestration, and full audit visibility.
Book your free IT-Conductor demo today and see it live in action.
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