International Data Sovereignty

Tensor9 for Data Sovereignty Scenarios

As global regulations around data residency continue to expand, software vendors face increasing pressure to comply with laws that require sensitive data to remain within specific geographic boundaries. Regulations such as GDPR (Europe), CLOUD Act (US), and regional data protection frameworks in Brazil, Australia, and India mandate that enterprises control where data is processed and stored.

Traditional SaaS products, which centralize data in vendor-managed public clouds, struggle to meet these requirements, resulting in missed sales opportunities in regulated markets. Even Bring-Your-Own-Cloud (BYOC) solutions often fail to cover air-gapped or private on-prem deployments needed for high-security government or financial sectors.

Tensor9 addresses these gaps by enabling vendors to deliver their software directly into any customer environment, ensuring that sensitive data never leaves the customer’s infrastructure.

The Challenge of International Data Sovereignty

1. Strict Regional Regulations
   Regulations like GDPR require that personal data remain within the EU or specific jurisdictions. Other frameworks, such as India’s Data Protection Bill, mandate that certain types of data remain within national borders, impacting how vendors can deliver services.

2. Vendor Cloud Limitations
   Public cloud regions do not always match regulatory boundaries, and storing data in an approved location often requires complex configuration and additional costs.

3. Air-Gapped Environments
   Highly regulated industries (e.g., defense, government agencies) may require fully air-gapped environments where no external connectivity is permitted, further complicating software delivery.

How Tensor9 Helps

1. Localized Software Delivery
   Tensor9 allows vendors to deliver software directly into customer environments—including private clouds, on-prem systems, and air-gapped networks—ensuring that data remains local and compliant with international regulations.

2. Managed Service Replacement
   Tensor9 automatically replaces cloud-managed services (e.g., AWS S3, DynamoDB, ElastiCache) with open-source equivalents such as MinIO, ScyllaDB, and Redis. This ensures that the software can run independently of vendor-controlled infrastructure.

3. Global Compliance Support
   Tensor9 helps vendors comply with diverse data sovereignty frameworks by eliminating the need for cross-border data movement. Whether it’s the GDPR’s data localization requirements or the US FedRAMP’s security controls, Tensor9 supports deployments in line with regulatory demands.

4. Support for Air-Gapped Deployments
   Tensor9 supports fully offline environments, allowing vendors to deliver and support their software even when external connectivity is unavailable. Updates and logs are handled securely through supervised, audit-logged workflows.

Example Scenario: International Financial Institution

A multinational bank operating in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East must comply with a complex web of regional data regulations. Customer financial data must remain in-country, but the bank wants to use a cloud-native fraud detection platform to enhance security.

What Tensor9 Enables:
The fraud detection vendor can deliver their software directly into regional bank data centers across different countries. Tensor9 handles the replacement of managed services and provides an auditable support framework, ensuring that no data ever leaves the bank’s environment.

Why Data Sovereignty Matters for Vendors

Expanding into global markets requires more than just marketing and sales localization—it requires technical compliance with international data laws. Tensor9 makes this process seamless, allowing vendors to meet data residency requirements without re-engineering their software or creating region-specific versions. This opens new revenue opportunities in highly regulated markets, from European financial institutions to APAC government agencies.

Summary