Cisco, the worldwide leader in networking and security, today launched its Sovereign Critical Infrastructure (SCI) portfolio for customers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Cisco Sovereign Critical Infrastructure addresses the needs of organizations to innovate at pace while maintaining even greater 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. 

The Journey to Sovereign Critical Infrastructure

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 organizations 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 organizations 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. Our Sovereign Critical Infrastructure portfolio meets organizations 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,” said Gordon Thomson, President Cisco EMEA. 

“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. We are proud to partner with our customers to show that sovereignty and innovation go hand in hand", said Smangele Nkosi, General Manager at Cisco South Africa.

Expanding Support with Local Expertise

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