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The company’s new service will allow customers to have their EU-hosted data handled exclusively in the EU.
Software company ServiceNow has announced a major investment to allow its customers to host their data where it suits them while remaining compliant with data protection laws.
The cloud-based platform is creating a new service that will allow customers to request to have their EU-hosted data handled exclusively within the EU.
In a multimillion-euro investment, the new EU service will be run out of the company’s Dublin base.
As part of the investment, ServiceNow will create 80 new roles spread across several EU locations, including Dublin. The roles will be across cloud engineering, technical support, security, compliance and other product and service delivery functions.
The move comes a year after the Schrems II ruling over EU-US data transfers, and follows the final version of recommendations from the European Data Protection Board last month for making transfers of personal data to third countries to comply with EU data protection rules.
Mark Cockerill, vice-president of legal, EMEA and global head of privacy at ServiceNow, said the company opted to be proactive rather than take a ‘wait and see’ approach.
“Our new EU-centric service delivery model will give our current customers and partners peace of mind,” he said.
“For customers and partners operating in highly regulated industries, or in the public sector, or those that have yet to make the switch to the cloud, this model gives them certainty and simplicity when selecting the cloud service that best suits their needs.”
Carla Arend, lead analyst for cloud in Europe at the International Data Corporation, said the Schrems II ruling has led European organisations to revisit their cloud-related data protection policies and processes.
“Contractual, privacy and security safeguards, and the assurance that data will be kept and handled in the EU, help European organisations to comply with European data protection laws while taking advantage of global cloud platforms,” she said.
“Vendors such as ServiceNow that invest to support their customers in response to this ruling are providing essential choice to their customers.”
ServiceNow has been expanding its presence in Ireland in recent years. Earlier this year, it announced plans to fill 300 new roles at its Dublin office.
Last summer, the company also revealed details of a new data centre in Dublin to help service customers in Ireland and Europe.
