Cloud Carib becomes first Caribbean Company to Join VMware Sovereign Cloud Initiative

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A tech firm headquartered in The Bahamas has joined the VMware Sovereign Cloud Initiative, a move the company says will help clients better protect national sovereignty within the region of operation.

Cloud Carib, which provides of cloud services in the Caribbean and Latin America, made the formal announcement after 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 their sovereign borders, and most of these regulations are constantly changing. Cloud Carib, as a VMware Sovereign Cloud provider, delivers more secure and compliant cloud services to government organizations, those in the public sector and clients with data residency requirements or concerns.

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

The VMware Sovereign Cloud initiative helps customers engage with trusted national cloud service providers to meet geo-specific requirements around data sovereignty and jurisdictional control; data access and integrity; 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 the expense 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 drive digital transformation while reducing the risk of unlocking the value of data.”

New research conducted by Vanson Bourne, 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 significant revenue source. As economic uncertainty intensifies, it is not surprising that more business leaders are zeroing in on their data as an untapped revenue source. Yet the downside is just as big: respondents identified data sovereignty as one of the key challenges facing organizations, with 95% admitting it is a concern. Organizations that fail to comply with data sovereignty regulations often must pay fines in the hundreds of millions of dollars and 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 Cloud initiative 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 each country in the region as regulations evolve and security demands increase.”