2025 was a year of consolidation and strategic sharpening for the cloud industry. The rise of Agentic AI once again made clear that cloud computing is the central operating platform for digital value creation – serving as an integrated environment for platform services, applications, data and autonomous systems. At the same time, the debate around digital sovereignty gained momentum in 2025 and, at times, a sharper edge. Amid this tension between innovation and responsibility, EuroCloud Germany was able to further sharpen its profile as the voice of a high-performing, secure and resilient cloud economy.

As an association, we have been discussing digital sovereignty for almost ten years. However, geopolitical tensions, regulatory requirements and structural dependencies have brought questions of resilience, control and technological agency far more prominently to the forefront. Furthermore, the topic is also gaining importance in relation to data processing by AI.

These developments prompted us to actively structure the debate and discuss concrete courses of action. Among other initiatives, we hosted an Executive Roundtable in Mainz in early May (ahead of eco’s Data Centre Expert Summit 2025) titled “Cloud and Europe’s Digital Resilience”. Around 15 decision-makers from EuroCloud member organisations took part. One key insight to emerge was that Europe needs genuine freedom of choice in the cloud. This requires strengthening the European cloud economy – though not through isolation from US offerings.

We revisited the topic at the EuroCloud Summit 2025. The event, which took place on 24 September in Dortmund, was held under the motto “Perspectives for a Resilient Future”. As part of the event, we also presented the EuroCloud Pulse Check 2025: “Digital Resilience Made in Europe: Strategies for a Sovereign Cloud Future”. The study, which we produced for the fifth consecutive year, focused in particular on the role of hyperscalers in the cloud market.

With the EuroCloud Summit, the association was hosted at the Dortmund headquarters of adesso, at the invitation of member adesso as a Service. Following the event in 2024, this was the second time we organised a central community event for all members. The combination of relaxed networking and in-depth technical content was very well received by the approximately 90 participants.

The event also marked an expansion of the EuroCloud Board. At the association’s Annual General Meeting, which took place on the same day immediately before the summit, Silke Kanes also joined the board. The technology and transformation consultant was appointed to the EuroCloud Board by the eco Association, of which she has been a board member since August 2025. She is responsible there for software as well as corporate culture and diversity. The board now consists of six members.

With this board expansion, the association is responding to the next stage of evolution in the cloud economy. Applications are currently undergoing a profound transformation – from the traditional licensing model towards the provision of software as a service (SaaS) in the cloud. Forecasts project annual growth rates of up to 20 per cent for the SaaS market in Germany. In addition, this segment has strong innovative potential due to its close connection with forward-looking AI technologies.

To generate future membership growth in this dynamic market segment, EuroCloud is establishing a dedicated board portfolio and is deliberately expanding its content offering to address software and SaaS providers.

The strategic groundwork for this was laid by the board during a meeting held in Cologne on 20 November 2025. Software manufacturers transitioning to SaaS providers or aiming for this transformation were identified as the key target group. As part of a new initiative – the “EuroCloud Software Innovators Circle” – the association aims to bring these companies together and connect them with key players in the Internet and cloud economy. In this way, software specialists can benefit from our members’ expertise in areas such as cloud infrastructure and operations, as well as security and compliance. The shared goal is to help shape the transformation of the software industry in Germany. The initiative was successfully launched on 16 April 2026 at the eco Cologne Office.

In addition to software/SaaS providers, EuroCloud has turned its attention to other target groups in 2025. One of these is system integrators. The cloudification of IT has called their traditional business model into question and requires new approaches. The new workshop format, “System Integrator Dialogue 2030 – Food for Thought for the IT Service Business of the Future”, serves as a forum for discussing current challenges. The first events took place between April and June 2025 in Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich and Paderborn. In September, there was a special edition of the System Integrator Dialogue on Managed Security Services, which took place as part of the Internet Security Days 2025 at Cologne’s RheinEnergieStadion. In April 2026, the series continued with workshops in Hürth and Munich.

Another focus is the manufacturing industry, where cloud technology is increasingly seen as a driver of digitalisation. Cloud manufacturing and federated data spaces are regarded as key to the industry’s future viability. For this reason, EuroCloud entered into a cooperation with the Industry Fusion Foundation (IFF) in September 2025 – an organisation that promotes the digitalisation of medium-sized mechanical engineering companies across Europe. We were actively involved in the AI Open Source Summit 2025, the IFF’s central event, which took place on 30 October in Bad Wörishofen.

Through these initiatives, EuroCloud Germany further consolidated its role as a bridge-builder between cloud infrastructure, the software industry and industrial digitalisation during the reporting year.

DE-CIX Connects the World: Continuing its Growth Course in 2025

From the Americas through Europe and the Middle East to Asia, DE-CIX continued to grow in 2025 with its strategic positioning and 60 locations around the globe. By the end of the year, the neutral interconnection ecosystem of the world’s leading Internet Exchange operator comprised more than 4,300 networks – an increase of 25 per cent compared to the previous year. Connected customer capacity also rose by double digits to 220 terabits, a gain of 38 per cent. Similarly, global data volume increased, reaching a total of 79 exabytes over the past year (+16 per cent).

DE-CIX Anniversaries Shape the 2025 Financial Year

On the occasion of DE-CIX’s 30th anniversary in June 2025, the inaugural Digital Capital Study demonstrated how Frankfurt has evolved from a local Internet Exchange into the world’s leading digital hub. The study positioned Frankfurt in a global comparison for the first time and confirmed the city as the number one among the leading “Digital Capitals”. It highlighted the key success factors of modern interconnection ecosystems, analysed location indicators and demonstrated the economic impact of digital infrastructure on Hesse and Germany. The study made it clear: the development of DE-CIX is inextricably linked to Frankfurt’s rise as a global hub for digital data traffic.

DE-CIX Istanbul also celebrated its 10th anniversary in November 2025 and can look back on an extraordinary development: the site is now by far the largest neutral Internet Exchange in Turkey and ranks among the fastest-growing IXs in the global DE-CIX ecosystem. With data throughput exceeding 500 Gbit/s for the first time, as well as the introduction of the region’s first Cloud OnRamp and first AI-IX, DE-CIX Istanbul underscores its strategic role as a digital hub between continents.

DE-CIX Internet Exchanges are Shaping Global Digitalisation

DE-CIX Internet Exchanges (IXs) form the backbone of digitalisation across the globe. In the past year, DE-CIX Brazil launched DE-CIX São Paulo and DE-CIX Rio de Janeiro. These new locations – operated by the wholly owned subsidiary of DE-CIX Group AG – enable not only local peering but also remote peering both domestically and internationally, along with a wide range of interconnection services. In partnership with Ooredoo, Qatar’s first commercial Internet Exchange went live in 2025: the Doha IX powered by DE-CIX serves as a secure, high-performance interconnection hub for regional and global networks. Integrated into the DE-CIX ecosystem via the DE-CIX-as-a-Service model, the IX reduces latency and optimises connectivity in the Persian Gulf region. With the UAE-IX powered by DE-CIX, the company already operates the largest IX in the Middle East. In other countries and regions as well, the DE-CIX name is associated with the largest IXs in each area – such as DE-CIX New York in the northeastern United States, DE-CIX Mumbai in India and DE-CIX Frankfurt in Europe.

With newly launched initiatives such as Space IX – for the efficient and secure connection of satellite and terrestrial Internet networks – and solutions such as AI-IX – the first fully integrated IX for AI training and inference – DE-CIX has further underlined its technological leadership position. Measured by the number of connected networks and its geographical presence, DE-CIX remains the world’s unrivalled provider of peering services. Organisations that peer at DE-CIX’s 60 neutral exchange points and interconnect Internet networks directly with third parties optimise data paths to exchange bits and bytes securely, controllably, efficiently and with minimal latency. This enhances the user experience of digital content, services and applications and increases the economic impact in AI-based, real-time-critical applications within Industry 4.0. As such, DE-CIX offers services not only to wholesale network operators, but also for global corporations and Fortune 500 companies. Consequently, the operator’s success is directly linked to the global traffic flows that drive the Internet, the digital economy and digital life.

Felix Höger
eco Board Member for Online Services & Cloud Computing