Why your IT infrastructure should be located in Switzerland

Swissness often stands for the highest quality standards - as in the area of IaaS. In this blog post you can find out more about the advantages of IT infrastructure solutions from Switzerland and why your IT environment should be located in Swiss data centres.

Stability and reliability with IT infrastructure in Switzerland

For customer-oriented companies in all industries it is essential that applications and IT environments are always available. This is the only way to provide both end customers and the development team with a functioning working environment. Since most companies are increasingly networked and offer a large part of their products and services online, even short-term network failures can lead to costs and lost revenue in the millions. If websites, platforms or online shops are not available around the clock, revenues go down the drain and customer relationships suffer. Since the Corona crisis, more and more office employees have been working at least partly in their home office and are dependent on being able to access the company network from home. It is only thanks to reliable hosting that entire work teams can access all files and test new applications with the most diverse devices at any time, while customers can buy products or take advantage of services at any time of day or night.

IaaS providers who are familiar with the Swiss market and its peculiarities and speak the language of their customers support companies in setting up or expanding a stable and reliably functioning IT infrastructure that is tailored to the individual needs of the company - and offer personal on-site support in the event of any performance problems.

Security and data protection

Cyber attacks, data theft, or unauthorized network access can cost millions of dollars, lead to lawsuits and irreparable damage to your reputation. When working with an IT infrastructure provider, the external partner usually takes care of the security of the IT environment. With a cloud-based infrastructure located in Swiss data centers, you no longer have to worry about cyber security and protection against hacker attacks. In addition to integrated security programs, cloud service providers' packages often include automatic recording, continuous operation ("business continuity") and emergency planning. The external partner also assumes responsibility for software and hardware and carries out regular patching of the systems, minimizing security risks and ensuring the best possible functioning of the systems.

The company location plays an important role in choosing the right IaaS provider. In times of data leaks and hacker attacks, most companies and their end customers probably want to know where their data is stored. Most hyperscalers such as Amazon or Microsoft have their headquarters in the USA, where access to company data is practised without judicial control by means of the Patriot Act. In Switzerland, on the other hand, this is not allowed. According to the Swiss Data Protection and Information Commissioner, data protection should ensure that proportionality is observed in every case. This means that only as much personal data as necessary and as little personal data as possible is collected and processed, and that the person concerned has the possibility to control and, if necessary, prevent the processing of data about him or her as far as possible.

Companies must therefore guarantee the security of all stored personal data. Both employee and customer data must be protected as best as possible. If this data is accidentally or intentionally compromised and it turns out after the cyber attack or data leak that the company concerned had not taken appropriate security measures, it may face fines and sanctions. The Swiss Data Protection Act (DPA) provides for penal provisions in the event of intentional violations of the obligations to provide information, to report and to cooperate, as well as of the professional duty of confidentiality. The DPA is currently being revised. The revision is intended to create more transparency and strengthen the co-determination rights of data subjects. The draft revision leans heavily on the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) . Companies with customers in the EU are already subject to the GDPR today, although much higher fines than before are possible for the effective enforcement of data protection law since 2018.

Local providers comply with Swiss data protection laws and can therefore guarantee the highest data security standards. Xelon's infrastructure is located in ISO-certified data centers in the cantons of Aargau and Zurich. All customer data is subject to Swiss data protection laws and we can therefore guarantee the highest data protection standards. In July 2020, Xelon received ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certification, which stands for quality assurance and cyber security.

Tailor-made IT infrastructure

Well-known names such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services often offer attractive pricing models. However, these pre-defined packages from Hyperscaler rarely meet all the requirements of growing SMEs, start-ups and SaaS providers and only with the right cloud concept can the potential of the cloud be fully exploited. Local providers like Xelon determine the individual needs of their customers in a personal meeting. How much computing power is actually required in everyday life? What security measures must be taken? Are there plans to expand the portfolio and the team in the foreseeable future and to expand the IT infrastructure accordingly? These questions must be answered when creating a tailor-made IT concept. The Xelon consulting team will work with your team to build the appropriate IT infrastructure to enable you to test and further improve your products, provide the best possible customer support and gain market share.

In customer service, Xelon attaches importance to communicating at eye level. "It is important to us that we understand the initial situation precisely and can develop tailor-made solutions in consultation with the customer. In the further course of the cooperation, we strive to keep the customer's back as free as possible and offer regular updates as well as support for possible expansions," explains Xelon CEO Dudli. With a local provider, customers are not just a number. If a problem arises, the personal contact person at the external partner can react quickly and offer support. For example, customers who purchase professional services from Xelon receive on-site support, which ranges from a situation analysis and the implementation of additional security measures to the creation of an IT emergency plan in the event of a disaster.

Use Case: IT environment hosted in Switzerland

An interesting example of an infrastructure solution hosted entirely in Switzerland is the cooperation between Xelon and the IT service provider Teleinformatik for the migration of the IT infrastructure of SOS AERZTE. The medical association advises and cares for about 20,000 patients per year in the canton of Zurich. In view of this important function in the health care system in numerous communities, it should be self-explanatory that the IT environment including the emergency telephone service of SOS AERZTE must be available at any time of day or night. The company does not want to operate its own infrastructure and outsourced the complete IT and telephony infrastructure to an external data centre. SOS AERZTE turned to the traditional Swiss IT company Teleinformatik Services AG for external representation and support in IT matters. An important point during the migration was that the IT systems are accessible from anywhere at any time, because most users work either in their home office or on the road. Teleinformatik migrated the IT infrastructure of SOS AERZTE and set up a geo-redundant 3CX telephone system, which increased the reliability of the emergency number and guaranteed the employees of SOS AERZTE access to the IT environment at all times, both in the home office and when out in the field. Xelon supported the migration.

Conclusion

When choosing an external cloud service provider for IT infrastructure in Switzerland, the company's location plays a central role in addition to stability, scalability and support options. Swissness has established itself as a quality feature in the IT world in recent years. IT environments hosted in Switzerland are characterised by stability and reliability, security and data protection as well as customised solutions.

Xelon supports companies of all sizes in building, operating and maintaining IT infrastructure solutions so that customers can focus on their core business. In a personal meeting, the individual needs of the other party are determined before implementation begins. We speak the language of our customers - both literally and figuratively.