Cisco extends Webex data residency to UK

After introducing Webex data residency in the EU five years ago, Cisco has announced that it's doing the same for the UK.

Organizations across the country will be able to handle Webex Meetings, Messaging, Calling, Slido, Contact Centre capability, and the company's AI Assistant with data processing and storage carried out in the UK.

Data at rest and in motion will be geographically distributed across UK locations for redundancy, the company said in an announcement.

Similarly, large language model (LLM) capabilities such as meeting summarization and action item generation will be delivered from within the UK while customers should also benefit from improved latency.

“With Webex Suite data residency in the UK, we’re delivering both advanced AI capabilities that process locally, with control over where your data lives and how it’s protected," said Amit Barave, VP and general manager, Webex Suite & AI, at Cisco Collaboration.

"This is collaboration infrastructure built for how regulated industries actually operate — with enhanced digital control at its core."

The company introduced Webex data residency for the EU in 2021, claiming it was the first major collaboration provider to keep services and store billing, analytics, and personal information exclusively in the EU.

Since then, it's focused heavily on adding AI capabilities, with the launch of its AI Assistant in 2023. One year later, the firm announced the addition of language translation per message or in real time, message summaries, meeting recaps, and message rewriting functionalities.

Sovereignty in the spotlight

Sovereign cloud and data residency is an increasing priority for UK and European organizations concerned about data security and overreliance on US-based big tech providers.

Gartner predicts that spending on sovereign cloud infrastructure in Europe will triple from 2025 to 2027, with government agencies ranked among the main buyers.

Around a fifth of existing workloads will shift from global cloud providers to local ones, it said.

Tech firms are investing heavily on this front across Europe as well, with a host of hyperscalers rolling out dedicated sovereignty schemes.

Last summer, Google gave new data residency assurances for UK businesses using its Gemini AI offerings, on top of its existing data residency for Agentspace, its AI agent program, and Gemini 1.5 Flash machine learning.

Around the same time, Microsoft said its Sovereign Cloud would see data stored by EU customers for core enterprise services including Azure, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Security, and Power platform staying in the region.

And in January this year, AWS announced the general availability of its European Sovereign Cloud, offering European-based customers a fully independent cloud located entirely within the EU, with enterprise data kept separate from other AWS Regions worldwide.

"Regulatory complexity is mounting and organizations are rightfully demanding more control over their digital infrastructure," said Cisco UK CEO Sarah Walker.

"And now, I am delighted to announce that Webex Suite data residency will be available in the United Kingdom. This addresses a gap many haven’t seen met in the market: the ability to embrace modern collaboration technology while maintaining the level of control their organizations require."

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