Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Emea) is currently experiencing a big trend towards the cloud. However, this digital shift is not without its complications, particularly regarding data sovereignty and regulatory compliance.

Due to these various factors, resilience workshops like the “be: Connected” events that I have been able to join in London, Cape Town and Abu Dhabi, have become a critical component for organisations seeking to adapt to today’s rapidly changing business environment.

In Emea, these workshops are not only topical but central to addressing the pressing concerns of businesses grappling with geopolitical uncertainties, regulatory changes and an evolving threat landscape. And as I continue to be involved in these workshops, I have the vision of making these events a cornerstone for organisational growth and resilience across the region.

The Emea workshop advantage

Participation in “be: Connected” resilience workshops has soared. These sessions are opening up new opportunities for participants to deepen their understanding of resilience. Whether I’m at a roundtable or presenting to a larger group, I’m noticing people are more engaged than ever – taking notes, snapping photos and coming up to discuss ideas after sessions. This proactive involvement is truly game changing and signals a marked increase in engagement.

A key reason for this success is that our workshops go beyond typical vendor events; they create a safe space for organisations to discuss real-world challenges and solutions. We are moving away from a product-focused message and instead centring on solutions. This shift empowers participants to openly share experiences and strategies with each other which, in turn, leads to more actionable insights than ever before.

The business value unlocked by these workshops is significant. By focusing on strategic resilience, organisations in Emea are gaining greater market competitiveness, increasing client trust and improving sales performance. Data sovereignty remains a hot topic, especially as organisations debate where to store data within the European region. Many are asking does our plan align with our cloud strategy, and is it compliant with European Safe Harbor regulations? Increasingly, organisations want to ensure their data remains within the eurozone, ideally within their home country.

Navigating regional challenges: data sovereignty and beyond

Within the eurozone, data sovereignty is top of mind, but that is not the case for Emea as a whole. In order to best tailor the “be: Connected” events for each region’s relevant concerns, I find myself drawing on my experience in business development, marketing, sales leadership and general management. This helps me shape each workshop’s message so that it resonates with shifting regional concerns.

Tailoring my message (and the workshops in general) is crucial, as priorities shift across regions. In the Middle East, for example, the focus is more on protection and recoverability of data in the face of natural disasters or external attacks. For example, some of the world’s largest oil companies have shared how they now need to ensure that all data at their drilling sites is protected, as any of them face threats on daily basis.

As we move to the African region, the focus shifts again. Here, organisations are working to build broad resilience against both cyber and physical threats. Priorities include defending against rising cybercrime, navigating regulatory gaps and overcoming resource constraints, all with the goal of ensuring operational continuity and safety in a digital world.

Customising the message to address each region’s unique challenges broadens the reach and impact of these workshops. We see strong attendance from retail, manufacturing and public sector organisations. When we address region-specific concerns, we’re also able to engage in finance and executive leadership – especially chief financial officers who recognise the financial risks of inadequate resilience.

Real-world outcomes of resilience workshops

We’ve witnessed truly remarkable success stories emerge from these workshops, each one illustrating the power of collective learning and collaboration. Take, for instance, the CIO summit for public administration in the Middle East – what began as a conversation blossomed into a substantial business opportunity, underscoring the real-world impact of these engagements. Similarly, major European car manufacturers and prominent public sector organisations have found immense value in their participation. Their active involvement in “be: Connected” events has sparked dynamic discussions and forged valuable connections that extend well beyond the workshop itself.

These successes not only boost competitiveness and client trust but also serve as a model for other regions. It definitely helps to establish the general knowledge across many different industries that organisations need to do something, right? Many companies may think they are ready, and these workshops help to show the reality of the situation that no, many organisations are actually not ready yet. Once they see that, they have much stronger ground to stand on in terms of going to their own CEO or CFO and asking for budget. Because it gives credibility and something for them to reference back to.

The author, Tim Pfaelzer, is the senior vice president and general manager for Emea at Veeam Software
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