Smeup strengthens resilience, reduces TCO by 30%, and launches its S3 storage solution with Cubbit

Overview

Challenges

• Stay competitive in the global storage market without competing on price alone
• Simplify internal data management and enhance resilience
• Maintain full data control and flexibility, while avoiding storage silos 
• Address evolving compliance requirements and geopolitical risks

Solution

Deployed DS3 Composer (3.2 PB) across smeup’s 3 Italian data centres to create its own S3 storage service for internal use and customers

Use cases

• Immutable backup repository
• Cloud NAS
• Hierarchical storage management (HSM)

Results

• 30% TCO reduction vs. equivalent configurations previously run with US-based providers
• Offers customers a 15% lower price, with consistent service quality
• Multiple service tiers from a single, intuitive S3 platform
• Supports security and compliance needs (GDPR, NIS2)

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Smeup supports the digital transformation of SMEs and large organisations in the manufacturing, wholesale distribution, and services sectors. 

As part of an industrial plan aimed at exceeding €100 million in turnover, the company was seeking to expand and consolidate its presence in the cloud market.

Challenge

Smeup was looking for a solution that could simplify internal data management and strengthen resilience, while enabling its own competitive storage offering in a global market dominated by hyperscalers and extra-EU services — helping preserve margins without being forced into a price race to the bottom.

Traditional on-premises storage provided control, but proved costly, rigid, and complex to manage, resulting in geographically fragmented data silos. Public cloud services raised additional concerns around data sovereignty, geopolitical risk, and unpredictable costs.

Solution

In 2023, smeup adopted DS3 Cloud internally — Cubbit’s fully managed cloud object storage solution — achieving a 30% reduction in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) compared to equivalent configurations previously run with US-based providers.

Building on this internal validation, smeup expanded its adoption under a Business Alliance Partnership, doubling capacity to 3.2 PB from 1.6 PB. Smeup integrated DS3 Composer — Cubbit’s software-defined object storage — into its three data centres in the Italian regions of Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy, becoming a provider of the technology and launching its own geo-distributed S3 storage service for enterprises.

With DS3 Composer, smeup can deliver multiple service tiers from a single intuitive platform, simplifying operations. The offering combines maximum resilience — as data is encrypted, fragmented, and distributed across multiple nodes, ensuring files remain accessible at all times yet never exposed in full — with data sovereignty, flexibility, cost control, and S3 compatibility.

Cubbit enables smeup to benefit from cloud object storage solutions aligned with the highest security standards, such as NIS2, while expanding into new markets with tailored solutions for specific sectors. Use cases include immutable backup repositories, cloud NAS for file sharing, application automation, file and document archiving, and hierarchical storage management (HSM).

Result

Gianluca Pellegrini, General Manager at smeup ICS, commented: “The smeup offering has been strengthened by integrating Cubbit cloud storage into our portfolio. This entirely Made in Italy solution plays a fundamental role in enhancing our services. Cubbit’s technology is synonymous with data sovereignty and strict GDPR compliance, ensuring an unparalleled level of security and resilience for our customers, with critical assets hosted on geo-distributed infrastructure. We are not simply acquiring technology; we are actively investing in the country’s digital future by providing a scalable, secure, and reliable cloud platform. Thanks to Cubbit, we have achieved our goal of having a flexible, distributed architecture and service, enabling us to offer our customers prices 15% lower than with our previous solutions.”