VNClagoon and IGEL: Spearheading a Sovereign, Zero‑Trust Path to NIS2-Ready Collaboration and Confidential AI

Starting the journey to NIS2 and Zero Trust requires a sovereign‑by‑design foundation. As environments grow more complex across IT, OT, and AI, simplification and security must advance together. This blogs outlines the value of the IGEL Secure Endpoint OS Platform and VNClagoon partnership to provide a pragmatic, sovereignty‑first path to NIS2 and Zero Trust.

What is VNClagoon?
VNClagoon is a modular, open‑source–based communication and collaboration suite—mail, chat, video, files, tasks, CRM, projects, service desk, and more—engineered for sovereignty‑first deployments. It is delivered as a fully containerized, Kubernetes‑native stack on infrastructure controlled by the customer, whether on‑premises, in sovereign clouds, or in hybrid setups. Crucially, VNClagoon acts as a SaaS enabler rather than a SaaS provider: customers retain data ownership, determine residency, govern keys and access, and select which AI models run, including fully offline options.

What is IGEL?
IGEL is a secure endpoint OS platform that delivers centralized, policy‑driven control across large, heterogeneous device fleets. By extending device lifecycles, hardening the edge, and standardizing access to applications and desktops across IT and OT,  IGEL Preventative Security Model™  and IGEL Adaptive Secure Desktop™ become the universal access layer that makes sovereign collaboration and confidential AI practical and manageable at scale. 

Starting NIS2 and Zero Trust the Right Way
A sovereign-by-design foundation is critical to support NIS2 readiness and Zero Trust alignment. IGEL Universal Management Suite (UMS), paired with VNClagoon’s decentralized architecture, creates immediate centralized visibility and policy control at the endpoint while ensuring that communications remain on European‑controlled infrastructure. This directly addresses NIS2 priorities around supply chain integrity, third‑country data access, and verifiable data residency. Because VNClagoon is AI‑ready from day one supporting customer‑preferred, open models such as OpenVINO‑optimized variants and confidential inference options—organizations can capture early wins in visibility, detection, and policy enforcement without being locked into closed AI platforms. Most importantly, control and autonomy remain with the customer: VNClagoon is your stack on your infrastructure, with you governing data location, retention, encryption keys, and model choices, while IGEL makes the operational reality of deploying and securing this model straightforward across mixed fleets and locations.

Simplifying and Securing IT, OT, and AI
As environments grow more complex across IT, OT, and AI, simplification and security must advance together. IGEL provides a consistent, hardened access layer for users in factory control rooms, surgical theaters, command centers, and research labs, while VNClagoon automates sovereign Kubernetes deployments on‑premises, in national sovereign clouds, or in hybrid AI topologies. Confidential AI becomes feasible without connectivity dependencies: VNClagoon AI can run on, for instance, Intel TDX/SGX‑secured servers for hardware‑enforced isolation, or entirely offline on endpoints for air‑gapped and high‑assurance scenarios. IGEL then ensures reliable distribution and policy management for applications and models across these operating modes. Because each organization runs its own VNClagoon instance, dependencies on hyperscalers subject to foreign jurisdiction diminish, shrinking the attack surface and mitigating geopolitical risk without sacrificing user experience or operational consistency. 

Confidential Computing for Real‑World Data and AI
Confidential Computing is a cornerstone for protecting real‑world data and AI workloads under NIS2. When VNClagoon workloads execute on, for instance, Intel TDX/SGX, sensitive inference and data remain encrypted and isolated—even from administrators and hypervisors—establishing a hardware‑enforced confidentiality boundary aligned with NIS2’s stringent requirements. For the most sensitive missions, VNClagoon supports complete offline AI, processing confidential data directly on endpoints with no network exposure, a critical capability for defense, classified research, and critical healthcare diagnostics. Because VNClagoon is delivered as per‑customer Kubernetes instances, there is no central service that could become a surveillance target or a legal choke point under foreign jurisdiction. Each organization retains control over models, training data, and inference outputs. IGEL turns this distributed confidential architecture into an operationally manageable, user‑friendly reality.

Accelerating Secure Digital Modernization
This partnership builds on a proven best‑of‑breed ecosystem. For more than ten years, VNC has led with open‑source principles and global teams, partnering with IGEL, Intel, Fujitsu, Lenovo, and others to assemble composable, lock‑in‑free stacks that match the mission rather than forcing the mission to fit a stack. In a meritocracy‑driven development model, technology earns its place through demonstrated excellence, not marketing spend. Organizations combine VNClagoon’s sovereign platform with IGEL’s endpoint control to tailor security, sovereignty, and operations to their specific risk and regulatory profile. The result is digital autonomy at scale: telcos, data center operators, and resellers can deliver white‑label, sovereign collaboration and AI under their own control and brand, deploying transparent, auditable applications outside closed app stores and beyond AI monopolies. 

The Value of this Partnership is Autonomy and Control
Together, VNClagoon and IGEL provide a pragmatic, sovereignty‑first path to NIS2 and Zero Trust: standardized and immutable endpoints, a modular collaboration and AI platform under full customer control, measurable security outcomes, and reduced dependence on foreign jurisdictions. The combination enables confidential computing where needed, fully offline AI where required, and centrally managed operations across IT and OT—delivering a future‑proof AI posture without sacrificing usability or speed of deployment. 

 Join this panel discussion with cybersecurity experts to help shape how EMEA defines digital sovereignty and Zero Trust in the years ahead during  Now & Next Frankfurt.