A leading provider of cloud services in the Caribbean and Latin America, Cloud Caribnow joins the VMware Sovereign Cloud Initiative, helping clients better protect national sovereignty within itsregion of operation. The tech firm headquartered in Nassau, The Bahamas, made the formal announcementafter recently attending VMware Explore 2022 Europe conference in Barcelona, formerly VMworld.

Today, 100+ countries have their own laws governing how data should be managed and stored within theirsovereign borders, and most of these regulations are constantly changing. Cloud Carib, as a VMware SovereignCloud provider, meets the significant capabilities in delivering more secure and compliant cloud services togovernment organizations, those in the public sector and any client with data residency requirements orconcerns.

“We’re extremely proud to be the first Caribbean company to join the Sovereign Cloud Initiative and arecommitted to helping Digital Transformation Initiatives realize sovereignty for the protection of thecommunities we serve. We’re dedicated to bringing sovereign cloud services to our clients, advancing theregion’s data protection and sovereignty commitments, and supporting nations as they modernize and protecttheir data within their borders,” remarked Stelios Xeroudakis, Cloud Carib’s Founder and Chief TechnologyOfficer.

The VMware Sovereign Cloud initiative helps customers engage with trusted national cloud service providersto meet geo-specific requirements around data sovereignty and jurisdictional control; data access andintegrity; data security and compliance; data independence and mobility; and data analytics and innovation.

“There is no data sovereignty without cloud sovereignty. And sovereignty does not have to come at theexpense of cloud innovation,” said Rajeev Bhardwaj, Vice President, Cloud Provider Platform Solutions,VMware. “VMware Sovereign Cloud providers such as Cloud Carib can help customers innovate and drivedigital transformation while reducing the risk of unlocking the value of data.”

New research conducted by Vanson Bourne 1 commissioned by VMware reveals that over the next two years,96% of all companies surveyed believe data will be a source of revenue, and 50% believe it will be a significantrevenue source. As economic uncertainty intensifies, it is not surprising that more business leaders are zeroingin on their data as an untapped revenue source. Yet the downside is just as big: respondents identified datasovereignty as one of the key challenges facing organizations, with 95% admitting it is a concern. Organizationsthat fail to comply with data sovereignty regulations often must pay fines in the hundreds of millions of dollarsand suffer damage to brand reputation because of data compromise.

“The first jurisdiction to benefit from this rollout is our home base in The Bahamas. Joining the Sovereign Cloudinitiative amplifies our decade-long commitment to this region," said Cloud Carib CEO Scott MacKenzie. “So,this really is just the beginning as we aim to further that commitment by offering Sovereign Cloud to eachcountry in the region as regulations evolve and security demands increase.”