Three in four Swiss universities store backups in the sovereign cloud
A single cyberattack is all it takes, and the research paper is gone. Over 40 universities with more than 100,000 users store their backups in the sovereign Switch Cloud. For the University of Neuchâtel, this also includes the students' data.
A cyberattack, a wrong click, a geopolitically motivated sanction: it doesn’t take much for a research paper, a dissertation or an AI application to be lost. Virtually all data from Swiss universities is now stored in the cloud, much of it in Microsoft 365 (M365). Without it, a large part of Switzerland’s education and research sector would grind to a halt.
Three out of four Swiss universities are now prepared for such scenarios. They store their M365 backups in Switch’s sovereign cloud. This is because, from a risk management perspective, the lack of control over their own data and excessive dependence on a single provider are no longer justifiable.
Digital sovereignty as the benchmark
Joël Metzger is Deputy Head of IT Services at the University of Neuchâtel. As the migration to M365 approached, the question arose as to what would be a sovereign backup solution. After comparing various options, the choice fell on the backup solution in the Switch cloud. Three requirements were decisive:
- Ease of use for backup and recovery
- Data location in Switzerland, ideally with a Swiss provider
- Predictable costs over a period of up to ten years
Simple backup and recovery procedures are crucial, particularly for smaller IT teams. The restoration of entire folder structures or individual emails can be carried out at a specific point in time via a self-service restore console, just as easily and quickly as on-premises. Even if the Azure cloud is unavailable, an Exchange server can be set up locally with reasonable effort, and the restored data remains usable.
Issues of digital sovereignty have been the subject of intense debate at the University of Neuchâtel for years. As a foundation of Swiss universities with data centres in Switzerland, Switch is an ideal partner. Another advantage is that the University of Neuchâtel sits on the Foundation Board and has a say in strategic decisions. ‘You simply know who you’re dealing with,’ says Joël Metzger. Ultimately, the price was also clearly better than for on-premises and other cloud solutions.
Organisations in the cloud are now increasingly dependent on individual providers and have ever less control over their data. In Neuchâtel, digital sovereignty is put into practice today. ‘Before we introduce a new IT tool, we always assess the impact on our digital sovereignty. If the data does not remain in Switzerland or Europe, or if it is unclear who has access to this data, we reject the introduction,’ emphasises Joël Metzger.
Going the extra mile for students
As Joël Metzger’s stance suggests, the University of Neuchâtel goes one step further than other universities. In addition to its staff’s M365 data, the university also backs up all its students’ data. The principle is as simple as it is compelling: ‘We protect everything we have.’ Email is the official communication channel for students throughout their studies. Furthermore, they are exposed to the same risks as university staff, lecturers or researchers and are just as likely to fall victim to data loss. ‘That is precisely why I advise all universities to back up not only staff data but also all student data in the sovereign Switch Cloud,’ says Joël Metzger. ‘That gives me peace of mind.’
Neuchâtel leads the way
Academic work, research data and reports belong in a sovereign cloud. The University of Neuchâtel provides an excellent example of this. A university’s digital sovereignty begins where it retains control over its data and can act independently.
