As an advocate of data sovereignty and open source, Binero has long seen many strong reasons to choose a Swedish IT service provider. The new NIS2 directive greatly re-raises the issue of data sovereignty for Swedish and European companies.

Recently, Donald Trump's threat of trade tariffs against the EU (in line with his ‘America First’ agenda), as well as the EU's response in the form of counter-tariffs should this become a reality, has been widely discussed in the media. At Binero, we see this as another strong reason to re-evaluate the choice of American cloud services.

Inflation and a weaker economic climate are leading to reduced margins for many companies. The three major hyperscale clouds, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Compute Engine, are all American. Their existing pricing is considered high. Any import duty on these services would obviously hit already hard-pressed companies hard.

Choosing Swedish

Below are some arguments, in addition to data sovereignty, for choosing a Swedish supplier in a protectionist global trade climate:

Stability and predictability

Sweden is known for its political stability and a business climate characterised by a high level of transparency and fair rules. While countries such as the United States sometimes change their trade agreements and customs policies at short notice, Swedish suppliers can offer a more predictable and long-term partnership. This point may be particularly relevant over the next four years.

EU internal market

As part of the EU, Swedish companies are integrated into the single market, which means that goods and services can flow freely between member states without customs duties or other trade barriers. This allows European companies that trade with Swedish suppliers to avoid the customs duties and additional costs that may arise when trading with the United States or other countries outside the EU.

Sustainability and quality

Sweden is known for its high standards when it comes to sustainability, ethics and product quality. For companies with a strong focus on sustainability, it can be important to choose suppliers who share the same values, and Swedish companies are often pioneers in areas such as environmental technology and responsible production.

Resilience in the supply chain

Geopolitical tensions and sudden changes in trade relations can cause major disruptions in global supply chains. Choosing a supplier within the EU, such as Sweden, reduces dependence on more unstable regions and can increase security of supply. This is particularly important when considering unforeseen events such as changes in customs duties or sanctions that could affect a company's product flow and delivery times.

Long-term access to the market

Having a stable and close relationship with a Swedish supplier also provides a long-term opportunity to establish oneself in the European market. With the EU's extensive trade agreements with other parts of the world, Swedish suppliers can often act as a bridge to markets both within and outside the EU. This point also ties in with data sovereignty, as users of a service within the EU may require that data be stored within the EU.

Minimisation of political risks

Politics and tariffs often affect trade in unpredictable ways. While American political decisions can change quickly, and sometimes abruptly, Swedish and EU-based suppliers offer a much higher degree of stability and predictability in the trade framework. Swedish politics is often more oriented towards free trade and international cooperation, which means that Swedish companies are less likely to be affected by political economic fluctuations.

Brief summary

In summary, we at Binero believe that there are many strong reasons to choose a Swedish cloud service provider, for example in areas such as:

• Compliance and data sovereignty
• Predictability
• Cost control
• Sustainability and environmental awareness
• Support and partnerships

A sustainable alternative to American cloud services is our own public cloud, Binero Cloud, which is delivered from our own data centre in Stockholm. Based on OpenStack, the platform is environmentally friendly, flexible and GDPR compliant.