Leaseweb on Private and Sovereign Infrastructure: A Channel-First Alternative to Hyperscalers, Podcast

By Doug Green

“We provide a real alternative to the hyperscalers—with more personality and a true partnership approach to the channel.”

At the Channel Partners Conference MSP Summit, I caught up with Tim Mandell of Leaseweb to discuss how the company is positioning itself for MSPs and channel partners looking for more control, flexibility, and partnership in their infrastructure strategy.

Leaseweb, now a 28-year-old company, operates as a private, sovereign-by-design infrastructure provider. That distinction—private and sovereign—was central to our conversation and reflects a broader shift in how enterprises and partners are thinking about cloud and infrastructure.

Unlike publicly traded hyperscalers, Leaseweb emphasizes independence. “We don’t report to the street,” Mandell explained, highlighting the company’s ability to focus on long-term customer outcomes rather than quarterly earnings pressure. That independence translates into more flexibility for partners and a willingness to engage in tailored, relationship-driven solutions.

From a services standpoint, Leaseweb offers a full stack of infrastructure options, including colocation, private cloud, public cloud, bare metal servers, storage, and content delivery. The goal is not to compete head-on with hyperscalers on scale, but to provide an alternative that prioritizes customization, transparency, and partner alignment.

For MSPs and channel partners, that positioning creates opportunity. As Mandell noted, Leaseweb is actively investing in the channel, attending events like Channel Partners to better understand partner needs and refine its go-to-market approach. The company is focused on being vendor-agnostic and enabling partners to build solutions that fit their customers—rather than forcing them into rigid architectures.

The concept of “sovereign infrastructure” also resonates in today’s environment, where data control, compliance, and jurisdictional concerns are becoming more important. Enterprises are increasingly asking where their data resides, who has access to it, and how it is governed. Leaseweb’s model allows partners to address those concerns with greater precision.

At the same time, the conversation reflects a broader industry trend: the growing demand for alternatives to hyperscaler dominance. While public cloud remains critical, many organizations are rethinking a one-size-fits-all approach and looking for hybrid or specialized solutions that better align with performance, cost, and compliance requirements.

For the channel, this creates a clear path forward. Providers that can offer flexible infrastructure options—combined with strong vendor relationships—are well positioned to differentiate in a crowded market.

Leaseweb’s message is straightforward: be a partner, not just a platform. And in a market where MSPs are looking for both technical capability and business alignment, that approach may resonate more than ever.