The EU Regulatory Landscape is Changing–Are You Ready?

–By J.R. Cook and Raymond Nelson
Historically, companies with a global presence have stored all of their data in a single location. A US-based business with global offices would store data in a US-based data center, and allow access to that data from multiple locations.
Those times have changed. In October 2015, the US-EU Safe Harbor Agreement was declared invalid by the European Court of Justice. The agreement was designed to streamline the process for US companies to comply with European data protection laws.
On June 22, 2016, the UK held a referendum, termed the “Brexit,” and voted to leave the European Union. While the referendum is not legally binding, the British government is expected to follow through on the vote and begin the process of withdrawing from the European Union, which is expected to take two years. It is likely that the data protection and privacy laws will change, though it’s too early to predict exactly what those changes will be.
The EU-US Privacy Shield data protection agreement was approved by EU Member States on July 12. It offers stronger personal data protection standards, and brings legal clarity for businesses relying on transatlantic data transfers. Regular reviews on participating companies will be conducted by the US Department of Commerce to ensure companies are submitting to the rules.
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, “Data Localization Takes Off as Regulation Uncertainty Continues,” Stephen Dockery wrote, “Data center operations have been booming for years, but there’s a new urgency in setting them up to help businesses establish a creative solution to privacy regulations.”
Many companies are uncertain what the new regulations will mean for their businesses, but the need for multi-location data storage solutions will only continue to intensify. Now, more than ever, your customers with international locations need a trusted advisor to help them find those solutions.
A Real Life Example
Intelisys Sales Partner Scott Williams, President of TrueChoice Telecom, recently faced a challenge with a large international organization that stored data for international clients. Because the organization’s data was stored on US soil, the European clients were preparing to cancel agreements with the organization.
Faced with the prospect of losing a large number of European contracts, the organization approached TrueChoice Telecom for a solution. With help from the Intelisys Cloud Services team, Scott was able to offer several options, and ultimately the organization chose to move the data for its European clients to the NaviSite data center just outside of London.
With so much uncertainty surrounding the European market and the new regulatory decisions, Intelisys is here to help you and your customers find the right solution. “We’re an expert in hosted VoIP, but with the rest of the cloud services, we are still learning,” Scott said. “Intelisys was extremely helpful with helping us find NaviSite and other options, and was with us all the way through, helping us win the deal.”
Where to Go for Help
The Intelisys portfolio includes multiple Supplier Partners that offer colocation services in the US, Europe, and other locations around the world. We offer free dedicated, technical cloud engineering support, and we encourage you to reach out to us with all of your customer questions. Whatever changes the next few years will bring, Intelisys will be with you all the way.
Intelisys Supplier Partners with Colocation Services:
CenturyLink
Colt
Equinix
Internap
Level 3
NaviSite
NTT Communications
ServerCentral
Tata Communications
ViaWest
Zayo
Learn more about the services offered by these and other Supplier Partners here: https://0cdd42d8b8.nxcli.net/supplier-portfolio/
About the Authors
J.R. Cook, Senior Vice President, Business Development, leads strategic business development initiatives, leading to new and innovative opportunities for both Sales and Supplier Partners, and strengthens the Intelisys commitment to the indirect channel as it experiences a complex and exciting transformation.
Raymond Nelson is the Director of Sales Engineering for the Cloud Services Program, a resource provided to Intelisys Sales Partners, at no cost, that provides support through the entire cloud sales process, and provides the tools and resources they need to grow their businesses and maximize their revenue.