An interview with Patrick Grauss, Head of Sales at Proserve
Proserve is a Dutch managed services provider with more than 25 years of experience managing business-critical infrastructure. As part of team.blue – one of Europe’s leading providers of cloud, hosting and digital infrastructure services – the company combines local expertise, Dutch data centres and local engineering teams with the scale and capabilities of a European technology powerhouse.
Specialising in sovereign cloud environments, managed Kubernetes, private VMware platforms and managed AI infrastructure, Proserve supports organisations that operate in highly regulated sectors where compliance, resilience and operational control are business-critical.
One of those organisations is IBANXS. Looking to strengthen its position as a leading European Open Banking platform, IBANXS recently migrated its critical infrastructure from AWS to Proserve’s sovereign cloud platform.
In this interview, Patrick Grauss, Head of Sales at Proserve, discusses why digital sovereignty has become a strategic priority, how European cloud providers differ from global hyperscalers, and why more financial institutions and fintechs are choosing cloud partners that provide not only technical expertise, but also European jurisdiction, operational control and long-term regulatory certainty.
Digital sovereignty has become a hot topic. What does it mean to you, and why has it become so important?
Digital sovereignty is about control. Organisations need to know where their critical data resides, which laws apply to it and who can access it. It’s not simply about storing data in Europe; it’s about remaining in control of your digital infrastructure.
Geopolitical developments and legislation such as the US Cloud Act have made organisations far more aware of these issues. At the same time, regulations including DORA and NIS2 require organisations to demonstrate control over their entire digital supply chain.
That doesn’t mean every workload belongs in a sovereign cloud. The key is identifying which systems are truly business-critical and ensuring those remain under your control.
Many cloud providers say they store data in Europe. What is the difference between storing data in Europe and keeping it under European control?
Those are two very different things. Many providers operate European data centres, but if their parent company falls under non-European legislation, customer data may still be subject to foreign legal requests. Physical location doesn’t automatically determine legal jurisdiction.
At Proserve, the entire operational chain remains under European control. Our infrastructure is hosted in Dutch data centres, managed by local teams and governed by Dutch and European law. For regulated organisations, that transparency is essential when demonstrating compliance to regulators.
What differentiates a European cloud provider like Proserve from the global hyperscalers?
It’s not a matter of choosing either a hyperscaler or a European provider. Both have their place.
Hyperscalers are excellent for many workloads where scalability is the primary requirement. But when organisations deal with regulated environments, critical infrastructure or sensitive data, sovereignty, transparency and operational control become much more important.
Our customers know the engineers managing their environment. They know where their infrastructure is located, who has access and how their environment is operated. That level of transparency is becoming increasingly valuable as regulatory requirements continue to evolve.
Why is digital sovereignty becoming increasingly important for financial institutions, payment providers and fintechs?
Financial institutions operate where sensitive data, strict regulation and critical infrastructure come together. They don’t just need secure technology; they must demonstrate control over their entire digital supply chain.
DORA has significantly increased that responsibility. Regulators increasingly ask organisations to show how suppliers are managed, who has access to systems and whether critical services remain under control.
For companies like IBANXS, digital sovereignty is also part of their strategic positioning. If you present yourself as a European alternative within financial infrastructure, your underlying technology should reflect those same values.
IBANXS recently selected Proserve as its cloud partner. What does that decision tell you about developments in the financial sector?
It shows that organisations are becoming much more strategic in how they choose cloud providers.
IBANXS wanted its infrastructure to support its ambition of becoming a leading European Open Banking platform. Moving from AWS to a sovereign European cloud wasn’t simply an infrastructure decision, it reinforced the company’s broader strategy.
More organisations are making similar decisions. They’re looking beyond technology and considering governance, compliance, resilience and long-term strategic alignment.
IBANXS recently completed its migration to Proserve. How did that process go?
Migrating a regulated financial institution is never simple. The challenge isn’t only technical; it’s ensuring compliance, resilience and business continuity at every stage.
What made this migration successful was the close collaboration between both teams. Working together, we built a fully managed Kubernetes environment with separate production, test and sandbox environments, enabling IBANXS to migrate critical workloads within just a few weeks.
Beyond the technical migration, we also supported IBANXS with compliance documentation, DORA requirements and audit readiness, helping them meet the expectations of regulators such as the Dutch Central Bank (DNB).
What does working with regulated payment providers require from Proserve?
The bar is significantly higher.
Security, compliance and continuity are not separate projects—they’re embedded in everything we do. Regulators expect organisations to demonstrate how access is managed, how incidents are handled and how resilience is maintained.
As a cloud partner, we help customers meet those requirements through transparent processes, independently audited controls and continuous collaboration. Our role is not to replace our customers’ responsibilities, but to enable them to fulfil those responsibilities with confidence.
Looking ahead, what role will European cloud providers play in Europe’s digital infrastructure?
I believe digital sovereignty will become a basic requirement rather than a competitive advantage.
New regulations continue to raise expectations, while AI introduces entirely new governance challenges. Organisations are increasingly asking not only where their data is stored, but who controls it, who is accountable and whether they can remain compliant as technology and legislation continue to evolve.
That’s why customers are no longer looking for infrastructure providers alone. They want strategic technology partners who can help them make the right choices, both today and in the years ahead.
For European cloud providers, that means moving beyond hosting infrastructure and becoming trusted partners in building Europe’s digital future – something that Proserve is aware of and doing quite well already.