Cloud 2026: What lies ahead?

In this article, you will learn

• which trends have influenced the cloud in 2025,
• what impetus Europe is creating for 2026
• and what you can expect from Open Telekom Cloud in 2026.

Between the years: What happened in 2025? What will happen in 2026?
The year 2025 marked the end of a turbulent period for cloud computing, and 2026 is shaping up to be just as demanding. New regulations, along with the predicates “Europe” and “sovereign,” continue to gain importance rather than fade. With the Cloud and AI Development Act and the AI Continent Action Plan, two digital policy initiatives sit at the top of the EU agenda.

The debate around digital sovereignty in Europe began in 2019. Gaia-X brought the issue onto the agendas of political and business decision-makers, but interest gradually waned. That changed following political developments in the United States. In 2025, digital sovereignty rose like a phoenix from the ashes and became the topic of the year. Cloud computing was inevitably drawn into this renewed focus. Many companies and public institutions began actively seeking sovereign cloud solutions for their digital transformation initiatives.

The Bitkom Cloud Report 2025 found that 97 percent of companies consider the country of origin of their cloud provider to be relevant. Eighty-two percent called for European alternatives to US hyperscalers. Yet US hyperscalers continue to dominate the market, with a market share of more than 85 percent. This cloud paradox is not limited to Germany but can also be observed in other European countries such as Austria, Denmark, and Spain. In practice, ambitions and expressions of intent often collide with reality. Migrating workloads to European alternatives is not a project that can be completed over a weekend. European cloud providers frequently lack the breadth of functionality and the mature ecosystems offered by hyperscalers.

Nevertheless, the sovereignty discussion produced two important outcomes:

1. On the provider side, a shared understanding of digital sovereignty was sharpened beyond purely technical definitions, with greater emphasis placed on transparency, independence, and control. This perspective was documented in the white paper “The European Way of Cloud,” which also offered practical guidance for organizations taking their first steps toward sovereign cloud adoption.
2. At the same time, attention among users and independent market observers increasingly shifted toward European cloud offerings. Analyst firms such as Forrester and ISG published dedicated analyses of the European cloud landscape, while iX released a comprehensive market overview. In parallel, industry surveys conducted by Vogel IT-Medien highlighted users’ preferred sovereign cloud providers. Together, these initiatives provided a broad and detailed picture of the European provider landscape and the maturity of its offerings, with Open Telekom Cloud consistently positioned at the forefront as a mature and established European cloud. 

Continuity in the cloud market is only possible through consistent and uninterrupted adaptation. Alongside a large number of new services, 2025 saw several major developments. With the introduction of the marketplace, a foundation was created for partner offerings and for expanding the Open Telekom Cloud ecosystem. This step is particularly significant in the context of large language models, as it enables partners to make AI-driven solutions available directly within the platform. In addition, Open Telekom Cloud became the first European cloud provider to introduce serverless containers and function-as-a-service, enabling a highly convenient and accessible way to consume cloud resources.

A further highlight toward the end of the year was the rollout of the latest generation of servers from Intel for memory- and compute-optimized instances, delivering increased performance at the same cost. The year also marked a leadership transition. Thomas Weber succeeded “founding father” Andreas Falkner after nine years and is leading the Open Telekom Cloud as a key pillar under the T Cloud umbrella, the joint cloud competence area of Telekom and T-Systems. With these changes in place, the direction for 2026 is already clearly emerging.

European regulation, alongside developments across the Atlantic, will significantly shape the cloud landscape in 2026. In Europe, cloud users should have at least three initiatives on their radar that are likely to be particularly influential this year. These include the Cloud and AI Development Act, together with the AI Continent Action Plan, as well as the E-Evidence Act. At the same time, artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly decisive competitive factor. Europe remains comparatively weak in terms of available resources, particularly GPU capacity, when measured against the United States and China. With the Cloud and AI Development Act and the AI Continent Action Plan, Europe is pressing the accelerator and seeking to secure a stronger position within the global AI ecosystem. These developments will also shape the trajectory of the Open Telekom Cloud.

With the introduction of the T Cloud, one of the major topics for 2026 has already been set. Under the shared T Cloud umbrella, the Open Telekom Cloud will work in close collaboration with the Industrial AI Cloud offering a unique portfolio of GPU resources for European (sovereign) AI projects. The latest-generation NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs will be available via the existing Open Telekom Cloud portal.
 
In its anniversary year –  the Open Telekom Cloud is celebrating its 10th anniversary –  the European cloud paradox will also be addressed. New features, the expansion of the Marketplace, and enhancements to the overall cloud ecosystem are among the many highlights on the agenda. More exciting insights into how the Open Telekom Cloud will continue to evolve this year will be available on the blog at the end of January. Stay tuned!