Okta today announced the opening of a new UK Okta cell, a regional deployment that enables organisations to store primary identity data within UK borders, backed by regional EMEA disaster recovery. Designed for UK-specific data-location, operational-resilience, procurement, and risk-management requirements, the new infrastructure also supports the country's thriving technology and AI ecosystem. The investment reinforces Okta’s commitment to providing European organisations with infrastructure that meets evolving regulatory and performance demands.
Supporting regulatory requirements and building customer confidence
As UK regulatory frameworks evolve, particularly around operational resilience and regulatory access, organisations increasingly seek greater control over where identity data is stored and processed. The UK cell helps eligible customers store designated primary identity data locally, subject to the applicable product configuration and service terms. The capabilities are intended to provide greater transparency and control over data location while supporting resilience and availability objectives.
"This is about giving our customers the infrastructure choices they need to operate with confidence in the UK market," said Matt Ellard, SVP and General Manager, EMEA, Okta. "Whether operating in the public sector or financial services, organisations need identity infrastructure that aligns with their specific regulatory environment and performance requirements. This regional footprint strengthens our ability to serve the UK's most demanding and fastest-growing sectors."
Scaling for an AI-powered future
Beyond regulatory alignment, the UK cell represents a strategic investment in capacity and performance. As digital identity demands accelerate—driven by AI agent authentication, continuous authorization, and exponential growth in connected identities—Okta is building regional infrastructure to support this scale. Paired with existing disaster recovery in Dublin, the UK cell uses active and passive synchronization to provide enhanced redundancy, compliant regional failover, reduced latency, and improved performance across EMEA.
UK cell also represents a significant step in Okta’s commitment to its partners in the region:
“UK organisations increasingly need greater choice and transparency in where their critical identity environments are hosted,” said Adam Johnson, CIAM Lead UKIA at Accenture. “Okta’s UK cell provides UK-based primary hosting with EEA disaster recovery, helping joint customers address data-location, resilience, and operational requirements in line with their individual needs.”
Unlocking growth in priority markets
The UK investment particularly benefits:
Public sector and government: University research institutions and government departments with UK-hosting preferences or specific contractual, procurement, security-classification or data-location requirements
Financial services and fintech: Banks, fintech companies, and payment processors managing heightened requirements for operational resilience, regulatory access, security, auditability and data governance, including customer or procurement preferences for UK-based primary hosting
Regulated industries: Organisations subject to sector-specific, contractual or procurement-driven data-location requirements that can be supported by UK-based primary hosting and documented EEA disaster recovery.
The UK cell is targeted for production readiness in late 2026, with customer onboarding beginning in 2027. Organisations interested in evaluating UK data processing options for their identity infrastructure should reach out to their Okta account team to discuss availability and transition timelines.
For more information about Okta's regional infrastructure and data residency options, visit www.okta.com/okta-data-residency.
