Cisco brings Sovereign suite to SA

Networking and security leader Cisco has launched its Sovereign Critical Infrastructure (SCI) portfolio for customers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Cisco Sovereign Critical Infrastructure allows organisations to innovate at a fast pace while maintaining control and autonomy over their data and digital infrastructure.

The portfolio spans Cisco’s core product lines including networking, security, compute, collaboration, network management, AI and Splunk. Customers can configure and operate it in their own air-gapped, on-premises physical environments.

Cisco provided the following information on SCI:

SCI is designed to support customers at different stages of their digital sovereignty journey. Built around the principle that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, the portfolio gives organisations with a need for digital sovereignty the flexibility to choose the model that best meets their needs, whether fully on-premises, air-gapped environments for maximum control or hybrid approaches that combine sovereign infrastructure with cloud services.

By addressing key customer priorities around data control, operational autonomy, and freedom from dependency, Cisco helps organisations strengthen resilience while maintaining choice and control over their digital infrastructure.

“At Cisco, we understand that true sovereignty means having the freedom to innovate with choice and control remaining crucial to businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa,” said Gordon Thomson, president of Cisco EMEA. 

“Our Sovereign Critical Infrastructure portfolio meets organisations where they are on their sovereignty journey. The availability of this portfolio reinforces our commitment to being a trusted technology provider for the region’s critical infrastructure.”

Smangele Nkosi, general manager at Cisco South Africa, said: “We are helping South African organisations navigate the path to AI and modernisation by ensuring they never have to choose between innovation and control.

“With Sovereign Critical Infrastructure, businesses and public sector institutions can manage their most important workloads in environments they fully govern, supported by the full power of Cisco’s technology and local expertise.”

Customers operating a sovereign environment also require support and expertise. To address these needs, the Cisco Customer Experience (CX) organisation now offers support and services with air-gapped, on-premises, or hybrid setups.