NetApp and Google Cloud Ink 4-Year Deal to Power AI-Ready Air-Gapped Sovereign Clouds
NetApp, the intelligent data infrastructure company, has announced a landmark four-year enterprise agreement with Google Cloud to accelerate the deployment of secure storage solutions within Google Distributed Cloud (GDC). This collaboration, supported by World Wide Technology (WWT), provides an integrated, "air-gapped" sovereign cloud environment designed specifically for government and defense agencies. By embedding NetApp’s secure-by-design storage—including AFF, StorageGRID, and Trident—into GDC, organizations can now manage classified data with "Zero Trust" security while leveraging advanced AI capabilities locally.
Cesar Cernuda, President of NetApp, emphasized that the partnership allows public sector clients to modernize operations without compromising national sovereignty. "Data is the lifeblood of AI-driven decision-making, but for defense and intelligence, that data cannot leave controlled environments," Cernuda stated. This integrated solution ensures that critical workloads remain isolated and compliant while bringing modern cloud services directly to the edge or on-premises data centers.