Turn it around: from 'Cloud first' to 'Data first'

Published by Dutch IT Channel

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CTO Larik-Jan Verschuren begins with a brief company history:
“We’ve been around for 25 years. The common thread throughout has been providing hosting-related services to customers from our own data centers. Technically, we were already offering cloud services back in 2000—before the term even existed. Of course, a lot has changed since then. We’re doing more and more in the cloud, but people still don’t think enough about where their data actually resides and who has access to it. That started shifting when Trump came to power.”

“We operationalize server, network, and storage infrastructure in data centers, providing a platform to run applications,” Verschuren explains. “That space is diversifying quickly—everything is becoming containerized. With the rise of AI, a lot is changing. We need to build mini-factories to roll out AI workloads. Our core value remains: we know where your data is and who can access it. We safeguard your data—even in this era of AI agents.”

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Reality is different

Fundaments hasn’t traditionally used terms like “private cloud” or “sovereign cloud,” but in reality, that’s exactly what it’s been offering for years, says Ron Boscu. He joined Fundaments about a year ago as Sales & Marketing Manager, focusing on the private cloud portfolio for key sectors like healthcare and government. With years of experience in cloud and data center markets—including a stint as Sales Director at Equinix—Boscu initially hesitated.

“Honestly, I thought the cloud market was already dominated by the big U.S. hyperscalers. Many people still believe that. But I quickly learned that the reality is very different from that narrative. More than 65% of national and regional governments, semi-public institutions, and healthcare organizations still store their data in their own data centers.”

According to Boscu, the main reasons are security and control:
“These organizations are protecting their crown jewels. Most only make a move when their infrastructure reaches end-of-life. Until recently, Fundaments stayed away from managing their on-prem environments, as we hadn’t built those systems ourselves. But now, we support those as well. In addition to offering shared and private CPaaS (Container Platform as a Service) on our own infrastructure, we can now also manage infrastructure at the customer’s location or in third-party data centers.”

“That shift has drawn many customers to us. Their environments are rarely standardized—it’s always a patchwork of systems. And we support that patchwork.”

Business wants guarantees

Fundaments also aims to help reduce the disconnect between IT and business teams.
Boscu explains: “IT wants to outsource to save money and deal with the talent shortage. Meanwhile, the business side is happy as long as everything keeps running—and isn’t usually thinking about efficiency. That can be frustrating.”

But that’s starting to change:
“Trump-era policies triggered real concerns about loss of data control. I call it a kind of kill switch. Business leaders now want guarantees—they want to be 100% certain they own their data. That’s the core issue. Budgets are being freed up to gain and maintain control, and there’s a massive surge in demand for private cloud.”

Money also plays a key role in these discussions, Boscu adds:
“The heavier the applications, the greater the financial advantage of hosting them with us. Because we offer tailored solutions, we’re more flexible and scalable—plus, we include 24/7 support. We can offer all that more intelligently than the hyperscalers. Many businesses are discovering that the opaque, unpredictable monthly costs of the big players burn through budgets much faster than expected—despite promises of savings. On top of that, support is often minimal when things go wrong.”

From Cloud to Data strategy

This shift is changing conversations entirely, says Verschuren:
“Organizations used to follow a cloud-first strategy and didn’t care much about what kind of cloud it was. Now, the focus is less on cost and convenience and more on data strategy. You need to ask yourself: which data is truly vital to your organization’s existence? That data needs to be well protected.”

As a result, data is once again being classified and labeled—just like in the past.
“You then look for the right cloud provider, which could still be a hyperscaler. The answer is often a multi-cloud mix. That’s why you need to turn the cloud-first strategy on its head. Go data first.”

This shift is especially visible in sectors like government and healthcare—core focus areas for Fundaments.
Verschuren: “As conversations center more around data, we’re helping larger and larger organizations.”
Boscu: “We prefer to work with organizations that think long-term—those who understand the importance of ownership and translate that into data classification and labeling.”

Smart choices in Eindhoven

One such client is the Municipality of Eindhoven, which awarded Fundaments a European tender for a new private cloud environment, including full support and management.Verschuren: “We deployed our private cloud locally there. This gives the customer the ease of outsourced management combined with full control over their data and applications. That’s exactly what they wanted—a perfect example of an organization that thought carefully about its data strategy and made informed choices as a result.”

Curious about the success story of Fundaments & the Municipality of Eindhoven?Read more here.