# OCRE Cloud for Research & Education

> Sovereign European cloud for research and education institutions via Exoscale, procured through the GÉANT OCRE 2024 framework. No US CLOUD Act. GDPR-ready.

Through the GÉANT OCRE 2024 framework, VSHN and Exoscale supply European universities, research institutes, and public institutions with compliant cloud, without running your own tender. Swiss and European companies, no US CLOUD Act, GDPR-ready, with free traffic to GÉANT and the NRENs.


## Pages

- [Homepage](https://ocre.vshn.ch/): OCRE Cloud for Research & Education | VSHN + Exoscale
- [OCRE Cloud Partners: Collaborate with VSHN + Exoscale](https://ocre.vshn.ch/partners.md)
- [Cloud Sovereignty for Research & Education | VSHN + Exoscale](https://ocre.vshn.ch/sovereignty.md)

## Features

- **Exoscale infrastructure across Europe**: Compute, SSD block storage, S3-compatible object storage, GPU instances, and Virtual Private Cloud across Exoscale data centers in Germany (Frankfurt, Munich), Austria (Vienna), Switzerland (Geneva, Zürich), Croatia (Zagreb), and Bulgaria (Sofia). Guaranteed data location, with multiple 10 Gbps peering per zone to the GÉANT network and free traffic to connected NRENs.

- **Managed Kubernetes, OpenShift, and APPUiO**: Run containers your way: Exoscale Scalable Kubernetes Service (SKS), VSHN Managed OpenShift, or APPUiO Kubernetes Namespace-as-a-Service. VSHN operates the platform 24/7 so your research teams ship workloads instead of maintaining clusters, with reproducible infrastructure via API, Terraform, and Ansible.

- **Databases and managed applications**: Exoscale DBaaS covers PostgreSQL, MySQL, Kafka, OpenSearch, and Valkey/Redis. VSHN adds fully managed [PostgreSQL](https://servala.com/service/postgresql/), [MariaDB](https://servala.com/service/mariadb/), [Redis](https://servala.com/service/redis/), [Kafka](https://servala.com/service/kafka/), [GitLab](https://servala.com/service/gitlab/), [Keycloak](https://servala.com/service/keycloak/), [Forgejo](https://servala.com/service/forgejo/), [Nextcloud](https://servala.com/service/nextcloud/), and [OpenBao](https://servala.com/service/openbao/) on Exoscale, plus AppOps and AppFlow professional services for 24/7 operations, automated backups, and managed updates tailored to research workloads.

- **Swiss and European data sovereignty**: VSHN and Exoscale are Swiss and European companies with no US parent, so your data is not subject to the US CLOUD Act. This directly addresses the Schrems II concerns that affect research collaborations handling personal or sensitive data, keeping your workloads under European jurisdiction with a guaranteed data location.

- **Compliance built for institutions**: Infrastructure and operations are ISO 27001 and ISO 27018 certified, with ISAE 3402 audit reports available and a free GDPR Data Processing Agreement. The same controls already serve government, banking, healthcare, and education, giving procurement and data-protection offices the documentation they need to sign off quickly.

- **Easy procurement, no lock-in**: The OCRE 2024 framework lets eligible institutions buy vetted cloud without a lengthy tender. There is no minimum order, no turnover commitment, and no required contract length; billing is hourly and invoiced monthly in EUR or CHF. VSHN is ranked the #1 Exoscale provider in several countries, including Switzerland.


## VSHN and Exoscale for OCRE: Webinar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiLtYBvu7rs

## What you get through OCRE 2024

- **Framework procurement**: Buy through the GÉANT OCRE 2024 framework: compliant, pre-tendered access for research, education, and NREN-connected public institutions across 39 countries.
- **Framework discounts**: Reduced rates on Exoscale services under the framework, plus free traffic to and from GÉANT and connected NRENs.
- **Flexible terms**: No minimum order quantity, no turnover commitment, no contract length. Hourly billing, monthly invoicing in EUR or CHF.
- **Identity federation**: Single sign-on via OpenID Connect, federatable with your NREN and eduGAIN AAI identity providers.
- **Self-service from day one**: Master contract, then admin accounts to create projects for sub-organizations, manage users, and set financial limits, via web console, API, Terraform, and Ansible.
- **24/7 operations by VSHN**: VSHN operates managed services around the clock with automated backups and managed updates, with SLAs up to 99.99% on managed offerings.

## Used by European research and education institutions

- [CERN](https://www.exoscale.com/syslog/cern-on-exoscale/)
- [ETH Zürich](https://ethz.ch)
- [KU Leuven](https://www.kuleuven.be)
- [ZHAW](https://www.zhaw.ch)
- [University of Utrecht](https://www.uu.nl)
- [ASReview](https://asreview.nl)
- [University of Sussex](https://www.sussex.ac.uk)
- [Leibniz-Institut für Gemüse- und Zierpflanzenbau](https://www.igzev.de)
- [Leibniz Institute of Virology](https://www.leibniz-liv.de)
- [SWITCH](https://www.switch.ch)

## OCRE Cloud FAQ

### What is the OCRE 2024 framework?

OCRE (Open Clouds for Research Environments) is GÉANT's cloud procurement framework for European research and education. The OCRE 2024 framework, GÉANT's third generation, started on 3 February 2025 and runs for about five years. It lets eligible institutions acquire vetted commercial cloud services quickly and compliantly, without running their own lengthy public tender.


### Who can buy cloud through OCRE 2024?

Over 32,500 research and education institutions across 39 European countries are eligible, organized in three groups. Group A covers NREN members with a research and education focus (best terms, including data egress waiver). Group B includes university medical centers, libraries, museums, and private universities. Group C covers NREN-affiliated government bodies. In Switzerland, institutions access the framework through SWITCH.


### What do VSHN and Exoscale provide under OCRE?

VSHN is the sole Exoscale reseller in the OCRE 2024 catalogue, meaning there is exactly one path to Exoscale cloud through the framework. The offering spans Infrastructure as a Service (compute, storage, GPU, networking), Container and Platform services (Exoscale SKS, VSHN Managed OpenShift, APPUiO), and Software and managed applications. VSHN is ranked number one for Exoscale in all countries it serves, including Switzerland.


### What is Exoscale's role?

Exoscale is the European cloud provider whose infrastructure underpins the offering, with data centers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, and Bulgaria. Exoscale delivers the compute, storage, GPU, Kubernetes (SKS), and DBaaS layers, while VSHN handles managed operations, platform services, and customer support across most of Europe.


### How does OCRE help with data sovereignty and the US CLOUD Act?

VSHN and Exoscale are Swiss and European companies with no US parent company, so customer data is not subject to the US CLOUD Act. This addresses the Schrems II concerns that arise when research data leaves European jurisdiction, and Exoscale offers a guaranteed data location so you always know where your workloads run.


### What compliance certifications apply?

The infrastructure and operations are ISO 27001 and ISO 27018 certified, ISAE 3402 audit reports are available, and a GDPR-compliant Data Processing Agreement is provided free of charge. These controls already serve regulated sectors including government, banking, healthcare, and education, easing institutional procurement and data-protection review.


### How are backups and operations handled?

VSHN operates managed services 24/7, including automated backups, monitoring, and managed updates. Managed offerings come with service level agreements up to 99.99% availability. For self-managed Exoscale infrastructure you keep full control, and you can add VSHN AppOps for operations support on top of your own deployments.


### What does it cost and how is billing handled?

Through the OCRE 2024 framework there is no minimum order quantity, no turnover commitment, and no required contract length. Services are billed hourly and invoiced monthly in EUR or CHF, with framework discounts on Exoscale services. Exoscale waives all data egress charges to GÉANT and connected NRENs (the framework requires only 15% waiver, but Exoscale provides 100%). VSHN provides written cost estimates in EUR or CHF on request.


### How fast is procurement through OCRE?

OCRE eliminates the 6 to 18 months a standalone public tender typically takes. VSHN is ranked number one for Exoscale in all countries it serves, so institutions can use the cascade method (direct award) and place an order without a competition round. For projects under EUR 75,000, a desktop mini-competition can be completed via spreadsheet using GÉANT's pre-scored evaluations. In emergency scenarios such as disaster recovery or ransomware, call-off can be completed in as little as two working days.


### How do we get started and request a trial voucher?

Contact VSHN through the form below describing your institution and intended workloads, and we will provide more information and a trial voucher so you can evaluate the services. Eligible institutions sign a master contract, receive admin accounts, and then self-serve through the web console, API, Terraform, and Ansible to create projects and manage users.


## Request a trial voucher

Interested in using Exoscale or VSHN-managed services in your research or education institution through OCRE 2024? Tell us about your workloads and we will follow up with more information and a trial voucher.


Booking: #contact

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## OCRE Cloud Partners: Collaborate with VSHN + Exoscale

# Partner with VSHN for OCRE Cloud Infrastructure

IT service providers, system integrators, and consultancies working with European research and education institutions can collaborate with VSHN and Exoscale for the cloud infrastructure layer. You bring the domain expertise and institutional relationships, we bring sovereign European cloud operations through the GÉANT OCRE 2024 framework.

## How we collaborate

**Infrastructure partner model.** Your organization provides consulting, integration, application development, or IT services to research and education institutions. VSHN provides the underlying cloud infrastructure (Exoscale IaaS) and managed services (databases, Kubernetes, application operations) through the OCRE 2024 framework.

**Joint delivery.** You handle the institution-facing project work: requirements analysis, migration planning, application deployment, training. VSHN handles infrastructure operations, monitoring, backups, SLA, and 24/7 support. Roles are agreed per engagement.

**OCRE procurement simplicity.** Because VSHN is already an approved supplier in the GÉANT OCRE 2024 catalogue, institutions can procure cloud services without running their own public tender. This removes months of procurement delay from joint projects.

**Protected relationships.** Your institutional relationships stay yours. VSHN provides infrastructure, not institutional consulting. Both parties respect existing relationships.

## What VSHN provides through OCRE

| Service | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| **Exoscale IaaS** | Compute, storage, networking, GPU instances, VPC across seven European data centers |
| **Kubernetes** | Exoscale SKS (managed Kubernetes) or VSHN Managed OpenShift |
| **Database services** | Managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Redis, Kafka, OpenSearch, and more |
| **Application operations** | 24/7 monitoring, backups, updates, and incident response for custom applications |
| **Compliance** | ISO 27001, ISAE 3402, GDPR-compliant DPA, no US CLOUD Act exposure |

## Who this is for

- **IT service providers** serving universities, research institutes, or public education bodies
- **System integrators** deploying research platforms, HPC environments, or institutional IT
- **Consultancies** advising institutions on cloud strategy or digital transformation
- **NRENs and computing centers** looking for commercial cloud capacity with OCRE framework pricing

## Get started

Interested in collaborating on cloud infrastructure for research and education institutions? Let's explore how we can work together.

[Book a partnership discovery call](https://aarno.cal.vs.hn/15-ocre) or [start a conversation](#contact).


---

## Cloud Sovereignty for Research & Education | VSHN + Exoscale

# Cloud Sovereignty for Research and Education

Research data, student records, and institutional workloads require more than "hosted in Europe." The EU Cloud Sovereignty Framework defines eight dimensions that determine whether a cloud provider is truly sovereign, from ownership and legal jurisdiction to supply chain transparency and open-source technology.

VSHN and Exoscale deliver cloud services through the GÉANT OCRE 2024 framework with a sovereignty profile that meets the highest standards defined by the EU.

## Why sovereignty matters for research institutions

Most hyperscale cloud providers (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) are US-headquartered and subject to the [CLOUD Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CLOUD_Act), which allows US authorities to compel disclosure of data stored anywhere in the world, without notifying the data subject or the institution.

For research institutions handling sensitive data (clinical trials, genomics, student records, pre-publication research), this creates legal and ethical risks that "EU region" deployments do not solve. The CLOUD Act applies to the company, not the data center location.

VSHN and Exoscale are both Swiss companies. Swiss law governs all data processing, and neither company is subject to the CLOUD Act or equivalent foreign access laws.

## Shortest GDPR compliance path

Switzerland holds an [EU adequacy decision](https://commission.europa.eu/law/law-topic/data-protection/international-dimension-data-protection/adequacy-decisions_en), which means transfers of personal data to Switzerland are treated like intra-EU transfers under GDPR. For institutions using Exoscale's Swiss or EU data centers, this eliminates the requirement for Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or a Transfer Impact Assessment (TIA).

By contrast, institutions using AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud must complete a full TIA and implement SCCs because these providers are US-headquartered and subject to FISA Section 702. The GÉANT [GDPR Transfer Guide for NRENs](https://clouds.geant.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GDPR_Transfer_Guide_for_NRENs-OCRE-2024.pdf) explicitly calls out this distinction: for EU/EEA-operated platforms from non-US companies, the compliance checklist reduces to verifying encryption in transit and at rest.

## VSHN sovereignty self-assessment

We applied the EU's [Cloud Sovereignty Framework](https://commission.europa.eu/document/09579818-64a6-4dd5-9577-446ab6219113_en) (v1.2.1, October 2025) to our own services. This framework was used to score providers in the EU's [EUR 180M sovereign cloud tender](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_833) in April 2026. Three pure-European providers achieved SEAL-3, while a consortium involving Google Cloud scored only SEAL-2.

*This is a self-assessment, not a formal SEAL certification. We publish it for transparency so institutions can evaluate our sovereignty profile using the same structured criteria the EU uses.*

| # | Dimension | Weight | Assessment | Evidence |
|---|-----------|--------|-----------|----------|
| SOV-1 | Strategic | 15% | **Strong** | Swiss AG, no foreign parent, all shareholders Swiss citizens ([Commercial Register](https://zh.chregister.ch/cr-portal/auszug/auszug.xhtml?uid=CHE-275.566.226)) |
| SOV-2 | Legal | 10% | **Strong** | Swiss law ([GTC](https://products.vshn.ch/legal/gtc_en.html)), no CLOUD Act, [EU adequacy decision](https://commission.europa.eu/law/law-topic/data-protection/international-dimension-data-protection/adequacy-decisions_en) |
| SOV-3 | Data & AI | 10% | **Strong** | Data centers in CH/DE/AT/HR/BG with guaranteed data location. Sovereign key management via [Managed OpenBao](https://www.openbao.ch) + [Swiss HSM](https://cloud.securosys.com/cloudhsm) |
| SOV-4 | Operational | 15% | **Strong** | Swiss 24/7 ops, [Swiss-only support option](https://products.vshn.ch/support_plans.html#_option_switzerland_only_support). All services on vanilla Kubernetes |
| SOV-5 | Supply Chain | 20% | **Strong** | Infrastructure-agnostic: [customer chooses provider](https://servala.com/providers/). Open-source software throughout |
| SOV-6 | Technology | 15% | **Strong** | 100% open source. VSHN contributes to [K8up](https://github.com/k8up-io) (CNCF), [Crossplane providers](https://github.com/vshn), [Project Syn](https://github.com/projectsyn) |
| SOV-7 | Security | 10% | **Strong** | [ISO 27001](https://www.vshn.ch/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/ISO-27001-certificate-VSHN-2024.pdf), ISAE 3402 Type II, Swiss SOC. [FINMA-regulated customers](https://www.vshn.ch/en/solutions/solutions-for-banks-and-financial-service-providers/) |
| SOV-8 | Environmental | 5% | **Strong** | 90% renewable energy across Exoscale zones (100% in CH/DE/AT). Equinix + A1 Group targeting carbon neutrality by 2030. [Exoscale sustainability](https://www.exoscale.com/sustainability/). [VSHN CSR policy](https://handbook.vshn.ch/corporate_social_responsibility_policy.html) |

**Overall: SEAL-3 equivalent**, the same level achieved by the winners of the EU's own sovereignty tender. No provider worldwide achieved SEAL-4: it requires fully EU/EEA-sourced hardware supply chains and open-source foundations, structural gaps shared by every cloud provider.

## Exoscale: European cloud infrastructure

Exoscale is Swiss-headquartered (part of A1 Telekom Austria Group) and operates data centers in seven European cities across Equinix and A1 Group facilities:

| Zone | City | Facility | Renewable energy |
|------|------|----------|-----------------|
| CH-DK-2 | Zürich | Equinix | 100% (Swiss hydro) |
| CH-GVA-2 | Geneva | Equinix | 100% (Swiss hydro) |
| DE-FRA-1 | Frankfurt | Equinix | 100% |
| DE-MUC-1 | Munich | — | 100% |
| AT-VIE-1 | Vienna | Arsenal | 100% |
| AT-VIE-2 | Vienna | A1 Next Generation DC | 100% |
| HR-ZAG-1 | Zagreb | A1 Hrvatska DC | 91% |
| BG-SOF-1 | Sofia | — | 75% |

90% of Exoscale's electricity comes from renewable sources across all zones. Both Equinix and A1 Group target carbon neutrality by 2030. Sustainability carries 10% weight (AC8) in the GÉANT evaluation scoring, where Exoscale's renewable energy profile scored competitively. See [Exoscale sustainability](https://www.exoscale.com/sustainability/) for details and green energy certificates.

Key sovereignty features:

- **Guaranteed data location**: you choose which data center zone your workloads run in
- **No US parent company**: A1 Telekom Austria Group is European-owned
- **ISO 27001, ISO 27018, BSI C5, and SOC 2 certified**, ISAE 3402 audit reports available
- **GDPR-compliant DPA** provided free of charge
- **Free traffic to GÉANT** and connected NRENs, no egress charges for academic networking

## Sovereignty compared: hyperscalers vs. VSHN + Exoscale

| Dimension | AWS / Azure / Google Cloud | VSHN + Exoscale |
|-----------|---------------------------|-----------------|
| **Headquarters** | USA | Switzerland |
| **Governing law** | US law (CLOUD Act applies) | Swiss law (no CLOUD Act) |
| **GDPR compliance** | Requires SCCs + Transfer Impact Assessment | No SCCs needed (Swiss adequacy decision) |
| **Data location** | Configurable, but company subject to US jurisdiction | European-only, guaranteed data location |
| **Ownership** | US publicly traded | Swiss AG + Austrian group |
| **Data egress to GÉANT** | Standard egress charges apply | 100% waived |
| **Open source** | Proprietary platforms | Open-source operations stack |
| **OCRE framework** | Available through OCRE | Available through OCRE |

## Request a sovereignty assessment

Concerned about data sovereignty for your research workloads? We can assess your current cloud setup against the EU framework and propose a migration path to sovereign European infrastructure.

[Request a trial voucher](#contact) or [book a call](https://aarno.cal.vs.hn/15-ocre).