Don’t underestimate the importance of a local hosting provider

Freshly baked bread from your neighborhood bakery, Belgian beer, Antwerp fashion... We all love things that are proudly 'from here'. But what about your hosting? Have you placed your website and data with a foreign hosting company? That could’ve been entirely local too, with servers literally and figuratively close to home. Discover why local hosting makes a real difference.

Explore the benefits of local hosting

Opting for local hosting is not only better for our own economy. By working with reliable hosting providers from Belgium or the Netherlands, you also make things much easier for yourself. Not to mention the great importance of this!

Keep quiet? No way, we will explain why it is better to choose a local hosting company for the best hosting. Discover all the advantages of local hosting.

Advantage of local hosting (like Combell)	Drawback of hyperscalers (big international players)
✅ Fully GDPR-compliant: Data remains in Belgium, under EU law	❌ Data may be stored outside the EU, subject to foreign laws (like the US CLOUD Act)
✅ Data sovereignty: You stay in control of your own data	❌ Unclear who has access to your data or under which laws
✅ Personal, Dutch-speaking support 24/7	❌ English-only support, often via email or ticketing
✅ Partner, not supplier: Genuine collaboration and guidance	❌ Impersonal service, no custom approach or proactive help
✅ ISO 27701 certified: Proven privacy and security standards	❌ No guarantee of meeting European data protection norms
✅ Optimized performance and fast load times	❌ Overloaded systems or setups not tailored to your needs
✅ Local experts who understand your business	❌ Distant service, no insight into your local market or context
✅ Better impression on customers and partners: Trust and professionalism	❌ Less transparency = less trust, especially in privacy-conscious sectors
✅ No cookie-cutter approach: Tailored advice and solutions	❌ One-size-fits-all: no room for a personalized strategy

✅ GDPR? check! Your data is safe with local hosting providers

Protecting the privacy of all kinds of data and personal information. That is what the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation does. You will often hear the English term: General Data Protection Regulation, or “the GDPR”.

For your website hosting, you’re safest with a European provider that has data centers in the same country. Your data stays on physical servers in Belgium, so you're fully GDPR-compliant.

Matthias Dekeyser, Solution Sales Specialist at Combell

Why take risks? Failing to comply with GDPR could cost you, in extreme cases, fines that exceed upon one billion euros (source: European Data Protection Board).

‘When it comes to hosting your website, it is best to choose a company that complies with all the strict regulations. With a European hosting company with data centres in your own country, you can rest assured. You will be fully compliant with GDPR legislation, because your data will be stored on a physical server in Belgium,’ says Matthias Dekeyser, Solution Sales Specialist at Combell.

From internal training to ISO 27701

Offering the best hosting also means that our employees receive internal training so that securing your data remains a top priority. This ensures that there is a clear line in how we manage our customers' personal data.

Would you like to compare hosting providers and check for yourself whether your favourite hosting company attaches great importance to GDPR? You can do so with the specially designed ISO 27701 certificate. You can regard this as proof that a company complies with the standards for managing and storing personal information.

Can we brag a little? Combell was the first IT company in the Benelux to earn this certification in October 2021. Nailed it. 🙂

✅ Information security? Check! Your data is truly protected

Your customers deserve strong guarantees when it comes to information security. You can provide that peace of mind by choosing a local hosting provider like Combell. On our local servers, your customers' data is in safe hands.

That’s music to the ears of international companies who highly value data privacy. It also makes your business a more attractive partner to banks, governments, and privacy-conscious sectors.

Where your data is stored and who has access to it are crucial factors when choosing a hosting provider. A recent team.blue survey showed that 72% of European organizations are concerned about data storage.

One of the responses from the survey:

“It’s often unclear what exactly is allowed or done with our data. I worry about the extra powers the US government seems to claim when it comes to data access. Our clients expect data to stay in Europe, under rules we can trust.”

✅ Not just a supplier, but a partner? Check! Local means reliable

As a customer, you are looking for good hosting from the fastest hosting provider. And preferably the cheapest? But you may wonder whether these two things are compatible.

Large players from the USA tempt you with their attractive prices, but a local managed hosting provider such as Combell gives you (much) more value for your money.

A local partner is ready to make the digitisation of your company a success. We have our own employees with technical knowledge at your disposal, a free migration service to transfer your hosting ... You name it, and Combell will take care of it. Multinationals, often far away and unreachable, provide much less support, if any at all.

A customer put it this way:

“You’re not dealing with an anonymous ticket system — you’re working with real people. We can easily communicate via email, phone or even Slack. And there’s 24/7 support. If something goes wrong, Combell takes responsibility. No runarounds — just solutions.”

Combell partner Dynamate - Read their success story

✅ Your data stays in Belgium? Check! Choose data sovereignty

Do you host your website or application abroad? Then you usually do not know which legislation your data falls under. American cloud providers? They fall under the CLOUD Act. This may mean that foreign governments can access your data.

At Combell, things are different: your data remains safe on Belgian soil, in data centres that are 100% compliant with European GDPR rules. You remain in control of your own data – and no one else.

An added bonus? No surprises. No complicated legal constructions or vague promises about “compliance”. Just clear rules, to your advantage.

And just like our support in your own language, our data hosting is local and transparent. Because your data deserves protection; here, close to home.

✅ No cookie-cutter approach? Check! Your project is our priority

Want to sit down with a hyperscaler to discuss the next steps for your business? Forget it!

Combell expert Matthias Dekeyser: ‘A local hosting provider such as Combell does offer customised solutions. Do you need more than a standard hosting package? Then we will work with you to assess the needs of your IT infrastructure.’

In short: no need to take a number and wait your turn. With our managed hosting options, we take you out of the queue and put your online story at the front of the line.

✅ Free support in your own language? Check! Reach us 24/7

If you’re hosting abroad, chances are you’re stuck with email forms or limited support. If you do get to call, it’s usually in English.

It can be so much easier: Combell’s own support team assists you in Dutch, French or English. All 24/7 and for free. Unlike foreign call centers, we tackle your issue head-on instead of reading from a script.

And here’s a bonus: we live and work in the same time zone. No late-night calls or early morning waits. Our account managers and technical experts are available when you need them.

✅ Strong performance? Check! The fastest load times guaranteed

Slow hosting does indeed have a major impact on loading time. Perhaps you have chosen a hosting package that is too light for your website? At Combell, we not only guarantee hosting that is 100% secure and “always on”, but also the fastest hosting on the market!

And you can be sure that a fast loading time for your site is important. After all, who likes to wait? Discover on our blog why only a super-fast loading time is good enough.

Faster loading times and better performance are therefore also a major advantage of hosting with a local partner!

✅ Want to make a strong impression? Check! Local hosting builds trust

Customers and partners are increasingly focused on privacy and data protection; and rightly so. By choosing local hosting, you show that you take it seriously.

Combell gives you quality, security, and transparency. No vague foreign servers, just reliable Belgian data centers. That makes you look professional.

Clients trust you more, knowing their data is safe and governed by EU laws. And partners prefer working with companies who’ve got their IT in order.

Bottom line: local hosting isn’t just smart from a tech perspective, it gives your brand a real credibility boost.

Looking for website hosting? Go local!

One thing is clear: when it’s time to take your business online, buy local. And as you’ve seen, we at Combell are ready to help you get started.

We’re Belgium’s largest hosting provider. And even though our Combell family has grown internationally, we remain a 100% Belgian company with local servers. Choose from Belgian-based hosting, VPS, and OpenStack Cloud Solutions.

Talk soon?

Download the full team.blue report

Curious to see more insights on data storage and why European businesses prefer local hosting?

Frequently asked questions about the importance of local hosting