Cloud for the energy sector: secure, resilient and sovereign

A modern cloud for energy suppliers and municipal utilities must reliably connect existing applications, data platforms and digital processes. At the same time, requirements for cyber resilience, sustainability, compliance and the secure processing of large volumes of data are growing. Cloud computing supports companies in modernizing their digital infrastructure step by step and deploying new applications flexibly.

With T Cloud Public, energy suppliers and municipal utilities can develop their cloud architecture in a controlled manner. Open cloud technologies, European data centers and scalable resources create the foundation for implementing innovations more quickly while ensuring security and digital sovereignty.

Grid operators face the challenge of building a secure, resilient and future-proof digital infrastructure for grid operations. Smart grids, intelligent metering systems, decentralized energy generation and increasing volumes of data raise the requirements for availability, cyber resilience and the secure processing of grid data. Cloud computing supports grid operators in providing data platforms, analytics applications and digital processes efficiently, without losing sight of existing security and protection concepts.

With T Cloud Public, grid operators develop a scalable cloud infrastructure for selected business-critical applications. European data centers, geo-redundant resources and open cloud technologies create the foundation for resilient cloud solutions and support the KRITIS-compliant modernization of existing IT landscapes.

T Cloud Public supports grid operators with a powerful cloud infrastructure for resilient operations and restart concepts. Geo-redundant resources, European data processing and comprehensive security standards create a solid foundation for data platforms, analytics applications and business-critical processes. This allows companies to advance their digital transformation in a controlled manner and adapt cloud solutions flexibly to new requirements in the energy sector.

Software and platform providers in the energy sector continuously develop new digital applications for energy suppliers, grid operators and municipal utilities. At the same time, requirements for scalability, security, integration and short development cycles are increasing. Cloud technologies and open platform services create the foundation for developing applications efficiently, deploying them in an automated manner and adapting them flexibly to new market requirements.

T Cloud Public provides an open cloud infrastructure with scalable platform services, containers, Kubernetes, databases and AI services. This creates powerful cloud solutions for smart energy, data-intensive applications and digital platforms – without building dependencies on proprietary technologies.

As a cloud for smart energy providers, T Cloud Public supports the scalable deployment of data-intensive applications. The broad service portfolio enables the modern delivery of cloud-based solutions. Open technologies facilitate the automation, integration and portability of platforms and software solutions.

A public cloud provides IT resources such as compute, storage, networks, databases or Kubernetes flexibly via a cloud platform. For energy suppliers, it is particularly suitable for data platforms, customer portals, analytics applications, development environments and AI and forecasting models. Whether business-critical applications can also be operated in a public cloud depends on protection requirements, regulatory requirements and the chosen cloud architecture. T Cloud Public supports energy companies in transferring suitable workloads to the cloud securely and in a controlled manner.

Suitable applications include development and test environments, customer portals, data platforms, smart meter applications, analytics platforms, backup and disaster recovery solutions, and AI and forecasting services. Whether a specific workload can be migrated depends on protection requirements, criticality, required response times and the dependencies between IT and OT systems.

Particularly critical or latency-dependent control functions should not be transferred to the public cloud as a blanket measure. They must be evaluated as part of an application-specific risk and architecture review.

In principle, KRITIS operators can also use cloud services. However, the operator must examine which applications are required to provide the critical service, what risks arise from outsourcing and what technical, organizational and contractual measures are necessary.

A certified cloud infrastructure can support these requirements. However, it does not relieve the operator of its own risk analysis, the control of its service providers and the proof of adequate security measures.

No. BSI C5 Type 2 and ISO 27001 are important evidence for security controls and the provider's information security management. However, they do not automatically confirm that every application operated on the platform is securely configured or regulatory compliant.

The cloud customer remains responsible, among other things, for user and permission concepts, application security, data classification, key management and the secure configuration of its resources.

NIS2 expands and specifies the requirements for risk management, supply chain security, handling of security incidents and operational continuity. Energy companies should therefore not only examine the technical functions of the cloud service, but also contractual terms, subcontractors, reporting channels, audit options and exit scenarios.

A cloud platform can support the implementation of individual measures. Overall responsibility for risk management remains with the respective company.

IT and OT systems should be considered separately based on their functions, risks and communication relationships. Secure architectures work with segmented networks, controlled transition points, restrictive permissions and continuous logging.

Cloud services can be used, for example, for data analytics, digital twins or maintenance applications, without operational control systems needing to be directly accessible from the internet.

Geo-redundancy distributes resources and data across spatially separated locations. This allows companies to reduce risks where a regional event affects multiple systems simultaneously.

However, geo-redundancy alone is not yet a complete business continuity concept. In addition, recovery times, maximum tolerable data loss, replication procedures, responsibilities and regular recovery tests must be defined.

A hybrid cloud can be useful when not all systems have the same requirements. Critical core applications or OT-related components can remain in a private cloud or existing data center environment. Scalable analytics, data or development applications can be operated in the public cloud in parallel.

Prerequisites are clearly defined interfaces, a uniform identity and permission management system, and traceable control of data flows between environments.

Cloud services can capture and process large volumes of grid, consumption, feed-in and sensor data. This data can be used, among other things, for forecasts, grid planning, bottleneck analyses, simulations and predictive maintenance. T Cloud Public provides a scalable cloud infrastructure for this purpose, on which data platforms and intelligent applications can be operated and extended flexibly.

The specific architecture must take into account which data is time-critical, where decisions are made and which systems are required for operational grid management.

Open interfaces, standardized container technologies, documented data formats and automatable infrastructure definitions facilitate portability. Before migration, companies should already define how data and applications can be exported, what deadlines apply and what support the provider offers during a switch.

An exit strategy should be regularly tested and not only developed when a planned contract termination is being considered.

Cloud costs depend on computing power, storage, data traffic, availability, licenses and operational services. Budgets, consumption limits, standardized resource catalogs and automated shutdown rules create transparency. In addition to pure infrastructure costs, expenditure for operations, maintenance, security, backup, recovery and scaling should also be taken into account. This creates a realistic assessment of the cost efficiency of a cloud solution.