Europe is losing a future market. "Success will be maintaining 20 percent."
- "Every year, public institutions in Europe spend around €2 trillion through some 250,000 different entities. This enormous amount should be directed much more towards European suppliers," says Benjamin Revcolevschi.
- OVHcloud's managing director admits that the goal should be for European companies to maintain at least 20% of the market share.
- In an interview with WNP, Revcolevschi also talks about the construction of "3AZ zones," i.e. resilient infrastructure, cooperation with the Polish government and the fight to improve energy efficiency.
- We are currently working on developing our own LLM, admits the OVHcloud CEO.
What is digital sovereignty?
"Before I answer, I wanted to mention that I became CEO in October, but OVHcloud has been building its position around the idea of sovereignty for over 20 years. This was our conscious, strategic decision, and today we see that history has proven us right in choosing this cloud operating model. We view it from three dimensions: data, technology, and operations."
What does it mean?
Data sovereignty means privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity, but also protection against external—non-European—legal and political influences. It's also a matter of trust: we don't train our AI models on customer data and we don't compete with our end customers. This is absolutely fundamental to us.
Technology sovereignty means that our technology stack is not dependent on non-European technologies . We design and assemble our own servers in our own factories, and we build and operate our own data centers. Of course, the question of where technological dependency begins is open to debate, but at OVHcloud, we always ask whether each new tool or service is sovereign. If there's a risk of dependency, we don't use it. We prioritize European and open-source solutions, and we give our customers a choice. They can choose American solutions, but we always clearly demonstrate the inherent dependencies. Transparency with our customers is key here.
And finally, operational sovereignty. We achieve this through the way we operate our data centers, with our own teams and infrastructure. But we also offer on-premise solutions—we provide hardware and software that customers can deploy in their own data center, building their cloud on-site and retaining full control over its operation. For some customers, it's crucial that operational sovereignty remains in their own hands.
You mentioned data centers, but you have to use American chips from Nvidia or AMD to build them. So what does this sovereignty mean?
"Of course, there are components in the infrastructure that everyone depends on. We're looking for alternatives wherever possible. Because we design and assemble our own servers, we can change suppliers if necessary—if we feel they don't meet certain standards or are under pressure."
But there are also elements on which the entire world depends, and here it's impossible to invent a completely new alternative. Therefore, it's safe to say that OVHcloud has gone as far as possible to be truly "sovereign by design."
Does OVHcloud train its own LLM models like Microsoft or Google?
"Until now, we've focused primarily on inference and the GPUs needed for this process. However, we recently announced that for some of our applications, we need our own, specific LLM models—for example, to support our network. Therefore, yes, we are currently working on developing our own LLM."
You mentioned that OVHcloud has been talking about digital sovereignty for over 20 years. Do you feel any political shifts around this topic?
"The geopolitical context is definitely in our favor. I believe both the public and private sectors are beginning to understand and speak out about the need for Europe to regain its digital independence. This is a new approach that has emerged, especially in the last six months."
However, this is still happening too slowly. We emphasize the need to accelerate public procurement. Every year, public institutions in Europe spend approximately €2 trillion through approximately 250,000 different entities. This enormous amount should be directed to a much greater extent to European suppliers.
Because when I read about partnerships being concluded in Poland, they mainly concern American companies.
Yes, it's fair to say: these are excellent entities offering very good solutions. However, the point is for Europe to build its digital independence by sharing expenses and burdens between American and European providers. Today, as much as 80% of cloud and software spending in Europe goes to American companies. Therefore, greater balance is necessary.
Let me give you an example: in France, I'm seeing specifications stipulating that 15-25% of the points awarded in the tender evaluation process should be based on whether a given solution provides protection against non-European law. This is a real change. Partners such as German Commerzbank and an armored vehicle manufacturer have moved to the private cloud, OVHcloud. We also have a client in the German Federal Police.
If hyperscalers are so good, in what areas does OVHcloud have a competitive advantage?
- We differ from hyperscalers because – as I said – we are "sovereign by design" in these three dimensions: data, technology and operations.
The second area is responsibility, or sustainability . Recently, a global think tank published a report on responsible cloud. Among the four global leaders were three hyperscalers, including us. Moreover, in some aspects of our capabilities, we outperform them.
We're different because for over 25 years we've been developing proprietary technologies that allow us to use less energy and water, as well as fully recycle our components. This makes us unique in terms of sustainability.
And finally , openness. Our cloud is reversible and based on open source . We don't use vendor lock-in—neither technological nor contractual. Customers can easily opt in and out of our services. This is a completely different approach than that of hyperscalers.
Water consumption is one of the most important challenges today. What exactly are you doing differently?
For 20 years, OVHcloud has been using water-cooling technology, instead of the air cooling that's standard in traditional data centers. We operate a closed-loop system, where small pipes inside the servers dissipate heat. This allows us to use 80% less water than the rest of the industry.
Are customers interested in how a data center operates? Could this be a real advantage?
More and more customers are paying attention to sustainability issues, especially younger generations in the technology industry. Another factor is artificial intelligence – because AI consumes enormous amounts of energy, its impact on the environment has become a focus of attention.
What investment plans does OVHcloud have?Is Europe the right place to build data centers? AI consumes a lot of energy, and energy in Europe is a huge problem.
Yes, definitely. Primarily because we need data centers in Europe for the sovereignty of our states and our economies. Digitalization is everywhere today: in the automotive industry, commerce, and manufacturing. And if digitalization is everywhere, then digital sovereignty is also necessary. And digital sovereignty means that data centers must be in Europe.
When it comes to energy, Europe is capable of delivering it. Some countries, such as France and the Nordic countries, have the potential to provide low-emission energy, which offers a huge advantage from a sustainability perspective. The challenge may lie more in location, meaning the availability of energy in specific locations.
Where does OVHcloud want to locate its data centers in the future?
Our strategy has two dimensions. First, we already have data centers in several locations across Europe: France, Poland, the UK, and Germany. We recently opened a data center in Italy. Our goal is to expand in these areas, driven by the needs of our customers.
Secondly, we want to ensure resilience in these locations, i.e., create what are known as three availability zones (3 AZs) . This involves building three data centers in a specific region, separated by just a few kilometers. Our strategy involves developing such resilient infrastructure in Europe.
Third, we are developing a network of local zones in major cities in Europe and around the world. We already have over 30 of them, probably half of which are in Europe. These are smaller data centers that provide very low latency, meaning fast access to data in specific cities.
What are your plans for Poland?
"We are strategically considering expanding the 3AZ (three availability zones) model to multiple locations across our continent, which will gradually ensure infrastructure resilience. This solution ensures continuous access to data, as well as fast and reliable failover, which is crucial for many sectors, such as e-commerce, media streaming, B2B solutions, and financial services. Collaboration with startups is also an important pillar. We want to support startups working on quantum technologies."
We are also in talks with the Polish government; in June, I met with representatives of ministries and administrations in Gdańsk. As Europe's largest cloud player, we want to further develop these relationships and provide sovereign solutions to our public partners in Poland.
What is your long-term vision for supporting Europe's digital autonomy?
"The cloud market will be as large as the telecommunications market in 2013. It will be on the same scale. Our vision is for Europe to retain at least a portion of this market for European players – because that share is decreasing year by year."
So there are no illusions that you will conquer the entire European market?
We need to be pragmatic here. Since the share of European companies has been decreasing year by year, our goal should be to maintain it at least at 20%.
However, this requires an entire ecosystem of companies. At OVHcloud, we have supported over 5,000 startups in recent years. We collaborate with technology, commercial, and integrator partners across Europe.
You talk about an ecosystem, but Google and Microsoft are ecosystems in themselves.
"You're right, customers really do expect comprehensive solutions. They're looking for simplicity. That's why I always say: if you want sovereign solutions, you have to start with the cloud."
Yes, you can say, "I'd like sovereign European office solutions, communications, or data platforms." That's more difficult. But starting to build sovereignty with the cloud, with infrastructure, with computing power and storage, is simple. That's the first step. Everyone needs to store data and have access to computing power. Sovereignty begins with the cloud.
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