Compare Open Telekom Cloud and Scaleway on capabilities, jurisdiction, assurance, and fit for European buyers.
Both listed as alternatives to: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure
Germany· Cloud Computing
Needs review
Shortlist when you need a German Telekom/T-Systems OpenStack public cloud with DE/NL/CH regions and a strong BSI C5/ISO/TISAX package for regulated or public-sector workloads. Skip when you need hyperscaler global PaaS breadth or pure self-hosted OpenStack—consider OVHcloud, Scaleway, or AWS/Azure for those cases.
France· Cloud Computing
Needs review
Shortlist Scaleway for French-owned multi-AZ IaaS (Paris/Amsterdam/Warsaw) with bare metal, EU-resident GPUs and Kapsule Kubernetes—especially HDS/sovereignty-sensitive stacks. Skip if you need completed SecNumCloud today or hyperscaler global depth; consider OVHcloud, Exoscale/UpCloud, or AWS/Azure/GCP instead.
Highlighted rows differ between the two products.
| Feature | Open Telekom Cloud | Scaleway |
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | Germany | France |
| Category | Cloud Computing | Cloud Computing |
| Open source | No | No |
| Self-hosted | No | No |
| Headquarters | Germany | France |
| Legal entity | T-Systems International GmbH (Deutsche Telekom group); product marketed as T Cloud Public / Open Telekom Cloud | SCALEWAY SAS (R.C.S. Paris 433 115 904), 8 rue de la Ville l'Évêque, 75008 Paris |
| Governing law | German / EU law for the cloud service (confirm contract) | French law (General Terms of Services) |
| US parent / control | No known US parent | No known US parent |
| CLOUD Act exposure (indicative) | Low | Low |
| Hosting / residency | Primary: Telekom/T-Systems twin-core data centers in Germany (Biere/Magdeburg), Netherlands (Amsterdam region), and Switzerland (Bern/Zollikofen). No public indication that AWS, Azure, or GCP is the primary IaaS host. Backups/DR via platform multi-AZ services. Full public subprocessor table not found—request DPA annex. Historical Huawei technology partnership is supply-chain diligence, not US-cloud hosting. | Customer cloud workloads on Scaleway-operated European multi-AZ infrastructure (Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw; Milan listed in availability docs)—not primary hosting on AWS/GCP/Azure. Account/controller activities use processors; privacy policy allows some non-EU transfers under SCCs. Full named subprocessor table is via Trust Center/contracts rather than a fully public marketing page. |
| Summary | Deutsche Telekom / T-Systems sovereign European public cloud (now marketed as T Cloud Public): OpenStack-based IaaS and platform services in Germany, Netherlands, and Swiss regions with BSI C5, ISO, and SOC attestations. | French iliad-group cloud platform: bare metal, virtual instances, EU-resident GPU for AI, managed Kubernetes, serverless, storage and databases on Scaleway-operated multi-AZ regions in Europe. |
| Tags |
| At a glance | Open Telekom Cloud | Scaleway |
|---|---|---|
| HQ / operator | Germany — T-Systems / Deutsche Telekom | Not listed |
| Current brand | T Cloud Public (formerly Open Telekom Cloud) | Not listed |
| Platform | OpenStack-based public cloud | Not listed |
| Regions | Germany (Biere/Magdeburg), Netherlands, Switzerland | Paris, Amsterdam, Warsaw multi-AZ (+ Milan listed) |
| Commercial model | Pay-as-you-go (+ optional discounts/reservations) | Pay-as-you-go; compute Savings Plans (GPU rules differ) |
| Self-host | No — managed public cloud | Not listed |
| HQ | Not listed | Paris, France (SCALEWAY SAS) |
| Group | Not listed | iliad Group subsidiary |
| Model | Not listed | Public cloud IaaS/PaaS (not self-hosted) |
| Open source | Not listed | Platform proprietary; open standards (K8s, S3 API, Terraform) |
| Key capabilities | Open Telekom Cloud | Scaleway |
|---|---|---|
| EU-operated (T-Systems) | Yes | Yes |
| OpenStack public IaaS | Yes | Not listed |
| BSI C5 Type II (claimed) | Yes | Not listed |
| DE / NL / CH regions | Yes | Not listed |
| GPU + ModelArts AI | Yes | Yes |
| Pay-as-you-go | Yes | Not listed |
| Bare metal + Elastic Metal | Not listed | Yes |
| Kapsule Kubernetes | Not listed | Yes |
| ISO 27001 (certified) | Not listed | Yes |
| HDS (claimed) | Not listed | Yes |
OpenStack public cloud with Elastic Cloud Server and GPUs
Self-service IaaS on OpenStack: Elastic Cloud Server flavors from general-purpose to GPU shapes for AI/ML and graphics, plus Dedicated Host and Bare Metal where the region supports them. Provision via console, API, or automation; Auto Scaling for metric-driven capacity. Suited to production VMs and hybrid patterns that need European operator control rather than a thin VPS plan.
Multi-AZ object, block, and file storage in EU regions
Object Storage Service provides S3-compatible multi-AZ object storage; Elastic Volume Service attaches block disks with snapshots; Scalable File Service offers NFS shared filesystems. Cloud Backup and Recovery and related services back up VMs and volumes into platform object storage. Pin workloads to DE, NL, or Swiss regions according to residency policy.
VPC networking, Direct Connect, and security services
Virtual Private Cloud isolation, Elastic Load Balancer, VPN, NAT, Enterprise Router, and Direct Connect for high-bandwidth hybrid links. Security stack includes Anti-DDoS, WAF, Cloud Firewall, Host Security Service, and Key Management Service with bring-your-own-key options—useful for regulated network architectures without leaving Telekom-operated regions.
Cloud Container Engine and managed data services
Cloud Container Engine runs Kubernetes-managed clusters and images; companion services cover container instances and registries. Relational Database Service supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Microsoft SQL with HA and backup patterns; document, cache (Redis-class), MapReduce, and search services extend the data plane. Service availability differs between DE and NL—check the regional matrix before design freezes.
ModelArts and sovereign AI positioning
ModelArts provides an end-to-end AI development path (data prep, training, deployment) on European infrastructure, with GPU-backed instances for training and inference. Aimed at teams that want model and training-data residency under the same European operator as their IaaS—confirm which AI services exist in your chosen region (several AI offerings are DE-focused).
Twin-core European data centers (DE, NL, CH)
Published regions: twin-core Germany (Biere/Magdeburg), Netherlands (Amsterdam area), and Switzerland (Bern/Zollikofen) for Swiss data residency. Vendor claims geo-redundant twin-core design, high availability targets, and renewable-powered German facilities. Not a global multi-continent footprint—by design for European sovereignty shortlists.
Elastic Metal, Dedibox and Apple Silicon bare metal
Single-tenant physical servers without a shared hypervisor layer: Dedibox for a wide dedicated catalogue, Elastic Metal for bare metal integrated with Scaleway VPC, load balancing, storage and Kubernetes, plus Apple Silicon Mac mini hosts for native macOS/iOS CI. Best when you need hardware isolation, custom kernels, or GPU bare metal without VM overhead—product lines are still converging, so compare availability zone coverage per SKU.
EU-resident GPU instances for AI training and inference
On-demand GPU VMs with recent NVIDIA options (including L4, L40S, H100 PCIe/SXM and B300-SXM) aimed at LLM fine-tuning, inference and graphics/media acceleration, with data residency in European regions. Integrates with Kapsule via the NVIDIA GPU Operator; pay-as-you-go by the minute. GPU capacity and Savings Plan eligibility differ from general instances—validate stock and zone before committing multi-node jobs.
Kubernetes Kapsule and multi-cloud Kosmos
Managed Kubernetes control planes on Scaleway nodes (Kapsule) with autoscaling-oriented operations, plus Kosmos for hybrid/multi-cloud worker pools including non-Scaleway infrastructure. Suits teams standardising on portable Kubernetes rather than proprietary orchestrators; external Kosmos pools remain your responsibility to patch and size.
Multi-AZ European regions with VPC networking
Place compute and storage in Paris, Amsterdam and Warsaw multi-AZ regions (docs also reference Milan), using regional private networking, load balancers and related network services. Useful for EU latency and residency designs without a US region on the primary map—confirm each product’s AZ matrix in the product-availability guide before multi-region DR planning.
Managed storage and databases on open-ish APIs
S3-compatible Object Storage (including multi-AZ class options), block volumes, and managed database engines (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, MongoDB, ClickHouse-oriented analytics) plus serverless containers/functions/jobs. Reduces day-2 ops for common stack pieces while keeping export paths closer to open standards than pure proprietary PaaS—always check engine versions, HA options and backup retention for production.
API, CLI and Terraform-first operations
Full console plus documented APIs, CLI and Infrastructure-as-Code workflows for provisioning instances, networks and managed services. Fits platform teams automating environments; IAM permissions and account Owner roles still need deliberate design for production orgs.
| Assurance & compliance | Open Telekom Cloud | Scaleway |
|---|---|---|
| Independent security / no-logs audit | Not applicable IaaS platform—not a no-logs consumer VPN. Independent assurance is via ISO/SOC/C5-style audits rather than a no-logs report. | Not applicable IaaS provider (not a no-logs VPN). Trust Center references penetration testing and security reports available on request; not a public no-logs audit product claim. |
| ISO 27001 | Vendor claimed Vendor certifications page links ISO/IEC 27001 umbrella certificate PDF for download; re-verify serial/date in procurement. | Verified ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certificate documentation published (e.g. certificate IS 787020 for SCALEWAY, Paris). Confirm scope covers the services you buy. |
| ISO/IEC 27017 (cloud security) | Vendor claimed Claimed with downloadable attestation PDF on certifications page. | Not listed |
| ISO/IEC 27018 (cloud PII) | Vendor claimed Claimed with downloadable attestation PDF on certifications page. | Not listed |
| SOC 2 / SOC 3 | Vendor claimed SOC 2 Type II (request report); SOC 3 public PDF linked on certifications page. SOC 1 Type II also claimed. | Not found Not listed among public Trust Center compliance badges reviewed (GDPR, HDS, ISO 27001, CSA STAR L1). |
| BSI C5 Type II | Vendor claimed Vendor claims BSI C5:2020 Type II (ISAE 3000); detailed report typically on request via audit-reports download flow. | Not listed |
| TISAX Level 3 | Vendor claimed Vendor states TISAX Level 3 for Germany and Netherlands regions. | Not listed |
| GDPR / EU data protection | Vendor claimed EU operator, EU/CH regions, ISO 27018/27701 claims, DPA language on marketing pages—confirm signed DPA for your entity. | Vendor claimed EU controller/processor with published privacy policy and DPA; French entity. Not legal advice. |
| US CLOUD Act exposure (indicative) | Partial German Telekom/T-Systems operator, no known US parent of the cloud business, primary hosting on Telekom EU/CH data centers (not AWS/GCP/Azure). Not a legal clearance of zero extraterritorial risk. Historical Huawei tech partnership is separate supply-chain diligence. Not legal advice. | Partial French SAS / iliad Group; customer IaaS on self-operated EU regions; no US parent found. Controller-side processors and possible third-country transfers per privacy policy; SecNumCloud not complete. Assessment only—not a vendor “safe” claim. |
| Data processing agreement (B2B) | Vendor claimed Vendor GDPR pages state DPA, TOMs, and audit reports available for B2B; obtain current signed pack—not fully self-serve public template verified here. | Vendor claimed DPA PDF downloadable on https://www.scaleway.com/en/contracts/ alongside TOMs. |
| EU AI Act | Partial Platform offers AI services (ModelArts) that may fall under customer AI Act obligations; OTC itself is infrastructure—not an automated high-risk AI system assessment by EuropeanStack. | Not applicable Infrastructure/GPU host; customer models and apps drive AI Act roles. Not an AI Act conformity product claim. |
| HDS (French health data hosting) | Not listed | Vendor claimed Vendor security and healthcare pages claim HDS certification; Trust Center lists HDS. Confirm certified service scope for your architecture. |
| CSA STAR Level 1 | Not listed | Vendor claimed Trust Center announces CSA STAR Level 1 (CCM self-assessment / CAIQ). |
| ANSSI SecNumCloud | Not listed | Partial Qualification process started (public news); security pages mark SecNumCloud as ongoing—not obtained as a finished qualification in sources reviewed. |
| Considerations & known limitations | Open Telekom Cloud | Scaleway |
|---|---|---|
| Historical Huawei technology partnership | Medium Platform launched with Huawei hardware/software partnership; residual stack components may still matter for sensitive public-sector RFPs. T-Systems states independent operation. Review supply-chain docs under NDA. | Not listed |
| Service catalog differs by region | Medium Several services (e.g. ModelArts, bare metal, some database/analytics SKUs) are unavailable in NL or limited to DE. Design against the live regional matrix, not the full marketing list. | Not listed |
| Limited public subprocessor table | Low Unlike some SaaS vendors, a complete public subprocessor inventory was not found on marketing pages. Request DPA annex and subcontractor list before high-assurance processing. | Not listed |
| Smaller global ecosystem than AWS/Azure/GCP | Low Expect fewer regions, fewer proprietary PaaS services, and a smaller marketplace than US hyperscalers. Migration tools and partner ecosystem exist but differ in depth. | Not listed |
| Brand transition OTC → T Cloud Public | Low Documentation, console URLs, and community still mix Open Telekom Cloud and T Cloud Public names. Factor rebrand into runbooks and vendor risk registers. | Not listed |
| SecNumCloud not yet obtained | Not listed | Medium ANSSI SecNumCloud is in progress on public materials. Regulated French public-sector tenders that hard-require a qualified cloud today may need another SKU/provider or a delayed migration plan. |
| Smaller service catalogue than US hyperscalers | Not listed | Medium Expect fewer proprietary managed services and less global region density than AWS/Azure/GCP. Multi-cloud or complementary SaaS may still be required for parts of the estate. |
| Account-plane processors and possible non-EU transfers | Not listed | Low Even with EU workload regions, privacy policy allows processor use and SCC-backed transfers for some controller purposes (support, payments, marketing, etc.). Pull the live subprocessor list for DPIAs. |
| Shared responsibility for guest security | Not listed | Medium Scaleway secures the platform; you own OS hardening, IAM, application security, encryption keys and backups. Recent Trust Center advisories on kernel issues illustrate customer patching duties on instances and Kapsule nodes. |
| Dedibox vs Elastic Metal product split | Not listed | Low Two bare-metal experiences still coexist while Scaleway documents convergence. Mis-choosing the line can affect API integration, networking features and migration effort. |
When: You need extensive bare-metal catalogs and a very large multi-country EU footprint
Consider: OVHcloud
Different operator (France) and product packaging; compare bare-metal and region maps.
When: You prefer developer-centric European cloud packaging outside the Telekom stack
Consider: Scaleway or Exoscale
Scaleway for FR/NL-oriented developer UX; Exoscale for Swiss multi-zone IaaS + managed K8s.
When: You need global regions, marketplace depth, or proprietary PaaS only hyperscalers provide
Consider: AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform
Accept US-parent CLOUD Act exposure and multi-region complexity in exchange for breadth.
When: You want German-market hosting adjacency with a different commercial/product mix
Consider: IONOS
Often compared for German buyers; validate IaaS depth vs OTC enterprise cloud features.
When: You need completed SecNumCloud-qualified private cloud or a larger non-EU region footprint under one European operator
Consider: OVHcloud
Compare exact qualified product SKUs and region maps; OVH and Scaleway are both French industrial clouds with different strengths.
When: You want simpler EU VPS/dedicated economics with a smaller product surface
Consider: UpCloud, Exoscale, or Cyso Cloud
Leaner catalogues; validate GPU, HDS and multi-AZ needs separately.
When: You need maximum global managed-service depth and partner ecosystem
Consider: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform
Accept US-parent CLOUD Act exposure and design residency/controls explicitly.
When: German SMB hosting plus EU cloud under a DE-centric brand is the priority
Consider: IONOS
Different product mix and market focus than Scaleway’s developer/AI-oriented public cloud.