Digital sovereignty and IT infrastructure: success factors for implementation
Digital sovereignty starts with the IT infrastructure
Digital sovereignty does not start with cloud platforms or AI – it starts at the level of infrastructure management: with operating systems, update processes, automation, repositories and the control levels of IT.
Based on years of experience, the orcharhino team has identified the most important infrastructure levers and brought them together in this article. Companies will find important guidance here on how to achieve greater digital sovereignty in their day-to-day business.
Cross-platform management
Traditionally, companies often manage their systems with isolated solutions: Windows tools for Windows, distribution-specific tools for Linux, separate mechanisms for cloud instances and other tools for on-premise systems. This coexistence increases complexity, prevents transparency and unintentionally creates new dependencies.
A sovereign approach, on the other hand, relies on standardized and open-source-based management platformsthat can centrally control heterogeneous environments.
What does cross-platform management mean in concrete terms?
- Management of different Linux distributions (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, SUSE, Rocky, Alma etc.)
- Simultaneous management of Windows Server instances
- Consistent policies for On-premise, private cloud, public cloud and edge systems
- Central management of:
- User and access rights
- System configurations
- Compliance status
- Inventory
- Software distribution and patching
Why is this important for digital resilience?
- Reduced dependency through cross-platform tool use
- A consistent governance standard for the entire company
- Lower operating costs due to standardization
- Lower training costs because less specialist operating system knowledge is required
Cross-platform management is therefore a central component of a robust and vendor-independent infrastructure.
In-depth training for IT managers and decision-makers
Lifecycle & patch management under your own control
Updates and patches are critical to security – but many companies leave their timing and origin indirectly to external providers. This leads to dependencies and uncertainties.
Digital sovereignty demands that organizations determine themselves when and how patches are applied – while maintaining stability, compliance and security.
What does superior lifecycle management involve?
- Controlled provision of operating systems and system roles
- Automated deployment (provisioning)
- Centrally controllable configuration guidelines
- Defined release processes for patches (test → staging → production)
- Rolling or rule-based update times
- Defined end-of-life strategies for systems
- Automated security and compliance checks
Key advantages
- Companies are not dependent on external patch cycles
- Security updates can be specifically prioritized or delayed
- Migrations and upgrades follow their own rules
- Maximum transparency of system statuses
This creates a self-determined security and modernization modelthat reduces failures and risks.
Local repository and content control
In almost all cases, the software running on servers and workstations comes from external repositories. If these sources fail, are compromised or the content changes, companies run into difficulties.
In-house repository control means that critical software sources are mirrored locally, checked and made available internally internally.
What does repository & content control mean?
- Mirroring external repositories (e.g. Linux package sources) to your own data center
- Internal release of package versions
- Possibility to freeze package versions (“version pinning”)
- Management of own software packages and configurations
- Resilient provision, even when external sources are offline
- Audit-proof documentation of which version was provided and when
Why does this strengthen digital resilience and sovereignty?
- Updates remain available – even in the event of supply chain problems
- Full transparency of software sources and versions
- Protection against accidental or faulty upstream updates
- Compliance with regulatory requirements (e.g. EU rules on update control)
- Possibility to supply different teams or locations with validated packages
Content control is strategic de-risking – it decouples the company from external dependencies.
Open automation tools (automation freedom)
Automation is the backbone of any modern infrastructure. However, many companies fall into
Digital sovereignty demands that automation processes are portable independent of platforms, clouds or manufacturers. Open source and open standards are a basic prerequisite for this portability and make it considerably easier.
What does automation freedom include?
- Use of open source tools such as Ansible, OpenVox (Puppet fork), Salt, OpenTofu (Terraform fork) and GitOps tools.
- Use of open DSLs (Domain-Specific Languages) instead of proprietary languages
- Portability: Automations work in any environment
- Integration via open APIs instead of closed interfaces
- Option to flexibly change or combine tools
- Not tied to “all-in-one” stacks from large platform providers
Advantages for resilience and independence
- Migrations become easier because automations migrate with them
- More competition – and therefore less cost risk
- Open code is auditable
- Automations can be further developed independently of manufacturer roadmaps
- Companies retain control over their own toolchain
Open automation is the insurance against unwanted bindings.
Flexible deployment
Companies today rely on hybrid structures: data centers, public cloud, private cloud, edge installations. However, many management systems only work in certain environments – a risk for long-term sovereignty.
A sovereign solution must be executable everywhere everywhere.
What does flexible provision mean?
- Installation on-premise, in private cloud, public cloud or multi-cloud
- Equivalent functions in all environments
- No dependence on a specific operator
- Consistent security and compliance standards
- Ability to move workloads between environments
Why is this important?
- Companies retain the choice of where they operate their critical systems
- Cloud strategies can change without having to rebuild the platform
- Reliability increases due to distributable load
- No dependence on individual hyperscalers
- Greater future security if providers change their license models or services
Flexible provisioning is the technical basis for true vendor independence and multi-cloud resilience.
New to the topic of digital sovereignty?
Here you will find an easy-to-understand introduction to terms, contexts and the role of IT infrastructure.