Switch joins Servala as Cloud Service Provider to strengthen Switzerland's digital sovereignty
Press release: Zurich, Switzerland – June 10th, 2026
VSHN and Switch are pleased to announce a new partnership: Switch is joining Servala as a Cloud Service Provider (CSP), expanding its ecosystem of sovereign managed services in Switzerland.
The Switch foundation is a key pillar of Switzerland’s digital sovereignty. As the operator of the Swiss National Research and Education Network (NREN), Switch connects universities, and research institutions nationwide and beyond. In addition to its network backbone, Switch provides digital identity solutions, cyber security, cloud services, procurement and collaboration services to research and education institutions - forming a cornerstone of digital innovation in academia.
With around 180 employees and decades of experience, Switch plays a central role in providing secure, reliable, and high-performance digital platforms and critical infrastructure for the Swiss education and research community.
By joining Servala, Switch is extending its portfolio of cloud services to include access to a growing ecosystem of cloud-native managed services. These services can be deployed and operated in a standardised, automated, and production-ready way - aligned with the needs of universities and research institutions that require reliability, scalability, compliance, and long-term sustainability.
ROMAN BACHMANN, Head of Cloud & IT, ad interim, Switch: "By integrating Servala, we are responding to our customers’ frequent requests to be able to provision a managed database, cache or queue at the touch of a button. This way, we are expanding our Switch Cloud service portfolio with key services that are indispensable in modern software development."
The partnership comes at a time of increasing demand for sovereign digital infrastructure in Switzerland. Organisations are looking for alternatives that combine modern cloud capabilities, providing local control, transparency, and independence from global hyperscalers at the same time.
This is where Servala comes in.
Servala connects Swiss cloud providers, software vendors, and service operators into a collaborative ecosystem. This model allows for greater flexibility, resilience, and innovation - while keeping data and operations under local control.
Servala creates shared value across the entire community:
Universities and research institutions gain access to modern, production-ready services tailored to their needs
Organisations retain freedom of choice and avoid vendor lock-in
Swiss providers collaborate and combine their expertise instead of operating in isolation
The Swiss education area is strengthened through local innovation and trusted partnerships
TOBIAS BRUNNER, Product Manager & Partner, VSHN: "What excites me most about this partnership is the shared values. Switch and VSHN have both built their reputation on trust, reliability, and a long-term perspective - not on lock-in. By joining Servala, Switch helps us demonstrate that Swiss providers can collaborate and innovate together, for the benefit of the entire ecosystem."
For Switch, this partnership marks a step towards evolving its service offering to include cloud-native platforms and managed services. For VSHN and the broader Servala ecosystem, Switch is a strong new partner deeply rooted in the Swiss education and research sector.
Both organisations have already started working on an initial Servala minimum viable product (MVP) tailored to the Switch community. Early interest from universities and research institutions highlights the demand for sovereign, easy-to-access services.
About Servala
Servala is the sovereign application platform connecting cloud providers, software vendors, managed service providers and implementation partners to deliver cloud-native services without vendor lock-in. Built on open standards and designed for interoperability, Servala enables organizations to deploy and operate applications across multiple clouds and on-premises environments in a consistent and automated way.
At its core, Servala is not a single provider, but an ecosystem. It brings together Swiss and European partners who combine their infrastructure, software and operational expertise to deliver fully managed services. This collaborative model ensures transparency, flexibility and long-term independence for customers.
With a strong focus on digital sovereignty, Servala allows organizations to retain full control over their data, workloads and technology choices while benefiting from modern platform engineering practices, automation and scalable operations.
Servala was initiated by VSHN and is developed in close collaboration with ecosystem partners. The platform brings together services operated by multiple providers, including VSHN and other independent partners.
About Switch
Switch is the digitalisation partner for Swiss universities. The foundation collaborates with educational and research institutions to develop secure and future-oriented digital platforms and critical infrastructure. Its activities are focused on strengthening cyber security, the universal use of digital identities and sovereign cloud solutions. Switch has also operated and protected domain names ending in .ch and .li since the early days of the Internet. The non-profit foundation employs around 180 people in Zurich and Lausanne.
About VSHN
VSHN - The DevOps Company - transforms software into reliable online services by automating and operating application workloads. As Switzerland’s leading Managed Service Provider, VSHN specializes in DevOps, Kubernetes, OpenShift, and cloud-native operations, enabling organizations to run business-critical applications reliably, securely, and at scale.
VSHN provides platform engineering, 24/7 operations, and fully managed services across public cloud, private cloud, and on-premises environments - without operating its own infrastructure. Through solutions like Managed OpenShift, APPUiO, Application Catalog, and Servala, VSHN helps organizations simplify operations, avoid vendor lock-in, and retain full control over their workloads.
Founded in 2014 and 100% self-owned, VSHN serves over 350 customers and partners across 16 cloud platforms worldwide. With ISO 27001 certification, FINMA-aligned operations, and ISAE 3402 Type 2 audits, VSHN ensures the highest security and compliance standards.
