Sparkle and Xebia to drive AWS cloud transformations in Europe’s education sector
Sparkle, an Italian telecommunications and digital infrastructure provider, has signed a partnership with IT consultancy Xebia. The two companies will work together to accelerate AWS cloud adoption among research and education institutions across nine European markets.
Headquartered in Rome, Sparkle offers a broad portfolio of services spanning fiber-optic and submarine cable networks, connectivity, data centers, voice services, and digital infrastructure solutions for carriers, internet service providers, cloud providers, and enterprises. Xebia, meanwhile, is a Netherlands-based digital transformation consultancy.
Under the agreement, Sparkle and Xebia will support cloud transformation initiatives in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The collaboration builds on Sparkle’s position within the OCRE 2024 Framework, a five-year, EU-compliant cloud procurement scheme administered by GÉANT. Running from 2025 to 2030, the framework covers more than 25,000 eligible research, education, and public-sector organizations across approximately 40 countries.
Research and education institutions that within the framework engage with Sparkle can access its services without having to undergo complex public procurement processes or competitive tendering requirements. As a result, Sparkle is seeing strong demand from educational institutions seeking support in their cloud adoption journeys.
On the side of Xebia, the partnership builds on its leading position in cloud consulting and its status as Premier AWS Partner.
Bridging access and execution
While Sparkle provides the underlying technology infrastructure, Xebia contributes expertise in technology advisory, implementation, and organizational transformation. Its services within the partnership span cloud strategy and architecture, compliant landing zone design, high-performance computing, data platforms, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and ongoing managed cloud services.
Annalisa Bonatti, Vice President of Enterprise at Sparkle, said: “We are pleased to partner with Xebia to help institutions transform cloud access into tangible outcomes. Xebia’s AWS expertise further strengthens our ability to support universities and research organizations in adopting cloud technologies for AI, data, high-performance computing, and modern digital infrastructure.”
“Research and education institutions are under increasing pressure to modernize their IT environments, yet many continue to face practical barriers when moving from cloud experimentation to scalable, secure production environments,” said Bart Verlaat, Managing Director at Xebia.
“Together with Sparkle, we can help institutions move more quickly from strategy to implementation – whether that means building compliant AWS landing zones, enabling AI and machine learning use cases, modernizing research infrastructure, or supporting high-performance computing workloads.”
The partnership comes at a time of heightened investment in technology modernization across the education sector, as institutions seek to meet rising expectations for digital experiences while operating more efficiently and cost-effectively.
