Real-time, controlled and secure data sharing

Axual platform: Build for control

Axual delivers a Kafka platform with governance at its core. Our architecture provides the control and compliance capabilities European organizations require, while reducing the operational complexity of maintaining production Kafka environments.

The Platform

Why use Axual?

Axual provides you with a Kafka platform that combines operational efficiency with the governance and resilience required for mission-critical data flows. Unlike DIY implementations that postpone governance considerations until complexity becomes unmanageable, our platform integrates comprehensive controls from day one.

How the Axual Platform works?

Streaming

Axual Streaming delivers enterprise-grade Apache Kafka built on Strimzi. Our platform handles billions of daily events with millisecond speed. We support on-premise and hybrid deployments, giving you data sovereignty, reliable performance, and integration with your security systems, benefits cloud-only solutions often lack.

Governance

Axual Governance builds role-based access control, schema management, and audit capabilities directly into your Kafka architecture, addressing security and compliance needs that DIY implementations often ignore. The platform enforces separation of duties through detailed permissions, maintains schema quality, and provides complete audit trails of all changes and access across your streaming infrastructure.

Infrastructure

Axual deploys on standard Kubernetes and Red Hat OpenShift with multi-cluster support for geographical distribution and disaster recovery. Our architecture separates the control plane (Governance) from the data plane (Kafka brokers), allowing independent scaling while maintaining unified management. This enables deployment across security zones, minimizes latency through regional distribution, and aligns with your existing network and security policies.

Connectors

Axual's managed Kafka Connect framework includes pre-built connectors for databases, messaging systems, cloud storage, and APIs. Credentials are securely stored in HashiCorp Vault, while self-service deployment lets teams create governed data flows between Kafka and existing systems. This maintains consistent security and audit controls across all integration points.

Deployment

Fast, Secure Deployment

Axual’s containerized architecture deploys through Helm charts and Strimzi operators across diverse infrastructure environments. The decoupled control and data places enable distribution across security zones and geographic regions while maintaining unified governance, allowing you to implement governed Kafka streams within existing infrastructure constraints rather than forcing architectural adaptation.

On-Premises

Deploy Axual directly in your data centers for maximum control. Our platform runs natively on both Kubernetes and Red Hat OpenShift, integrating with your existing infrastructure. This ensures complete data sovereignty and control for mission-critical Kafka implementations.

Cloud

Deploy Axual in your preferred cloud environment—in your own Virtual Private Cloud for enhanced security or as a managed SaaS for operational efficiency. Both options deliver enterprise-grade Kafka that integrates with your cloud-native architecture and Kubernetes infrastructure.

Recognized by Gartner

Services

Expertise in Kafka and Strimzi

Axual delivers specialized Kafka expertise across European organizations. Our governance-first approach ensures compliance while maintaining architecture integrity. We support Strimzi on Kubernetes without compromising security. With proven deployments in financial services, healthcare, and energy, we keep your streaming architecture future-proof as requirements evolve.

Managed Services

We manage your Kafka platform while your architects focus on core business. Our European team handles governance and scaling for mission-critical streaming across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments.

Strimzi Support

Our Strimzi expertise ensures stable, governed Kafka on Kubernetes. We provide configuration guidance and architectural reviews that exceed community support, as demonstrated at TenneT and Eneco.

Hands-on Expertise

Our specialists have implemented Kafka governance at scale across multiple sectors. We provide direct guidance on design, integration, and regulatory requirements based on practical experience.

Operational Support

We handle capacity planning, compliance updates, and performance optimization. We focus on governance while ensuring your streaming infrastructure remains resilient as requirements evolve.

Use cases

Industry Solutions

Discover how Axual powers mission-critical operations for banks, healthcare providers, and government agencies across Europe.

Banking

Empower your teams with Axual's simplified Kafka implementation, which enhances self-service and governance while fostering innovation."Axual simplifies Kafka implementation, enhancing self-service and governance while freeing teams to innovate.

Energy

Get your streaming data pipelines to production without worrying about maintenance.

Government

Focus on fundamental use cases such as real-time data pipelines, log aggregation, and stream processing. Avoid over-complicating your architecture with unnecessary features that do not serve your primary objectives effectively.

Discover all our Use cases

Answers to your questions about Axual’s All-in-one Kafka Platform

Looking for answers about enterprise Kafka governance? Our FAQ addresses questions about regulatory compliance, mission-critical reliability, and architectural control. For technical queries not covered here, contact our European-based specialists who understand both the technical complexities and governance requirements of production Kafka environments.

How does Axual’s governance approach differ from DIY Kafka implementations?

Axual builds governance into the platform from day one. With DIY approaches, you build custom tooling for topic management, access controls, and audit trails from scratch. Axual provides enterprise governance out of the box: self-service interface with approval workflows, integrated role-based access control, schema management, and complete audit trails.

What specific reguclatory requirements does Axual help us meet in European enterprise environments?

Axual addresses European regulations through built-in governance. For GDPR, it provides audit trails, role-based access controls, and data residency features that keep data within specified boundaries. In financial services, our platform supports transaction monitoring and detailed auditing. For healthcare, it ensures patient data security and consent management compliance. The platform's multi-tenant architecture, encrypted transmission, and comprehensive logging help demonstrate compliance during regulatory audits.

How does Axual Ensure mission-critical reliability across multiple data centers or regions?

Axual's distributor provides real-time geo-replication between Kafka clusters, synchronizing messages, offsets, and schemas with minimal latency. If one cluster fails, applications seamlessly switch to another and resume from the exact same position. The platform supports active-active or active-passive configurations across data centers, delivering 99.999% availability for mission-critical operations.

What are the minimum infrastructure requirements for running Axual on-premise?

For production, Axual requires a Kubernetes cluster with:

- 3 dedicated nodes for Kafka brokers and ZooKeeper (8CPU, 32GB each)
- 2-3 nodes for Axual Platform components (4CPU, 16GB each)
- 3 additional nodes if using Connect or Distributor (can be combined with platform components)

All nodes should be spread across different availability zones. For proof-of-concept, 4 nodes (4CPU, 16GB each) are sufficient. The platform needs persistent SSD storage, network policy support, and proper DNS resolution. Axual provides Helm charts for deployment on Kubernetes or Red Hat OpenShift. See our documentation for details.

How does Axual’s connector framework securely integrate with existing enterprise systems?

Axual Connect provides a managed Kafka Connect service with pre-built connectors for databases, message queues, and enterprise systems. All credentials are securely stored in HashiCorp Vault. Users deploy connectors through a self-service interface, while the platform handles credential injection and runs connectors in isolated worker clusters with TLS encryption. Role-based access controls ensure only authorized users can create connectors and access specific data sources, with full audit trails. This eliminates credential management risks while providing secure integrations with banking platforms, ERP systems, and legacy infrastructure.

What performance can we expect for high-volume streaming workloads?

Axual handles billions of events per day with millisecond latency in production. Performance scales linearly by adding brokers or partitions, with NVMe storage and 10Gb+ networks improving throughput. The Distributor for geo-replication adds minimal overhead, keeping cross-cluster lag in milliseconds. Axual's governance layer operates out-of-band without impacting data plane performance. Adding broker nodes maintains consistent throughput as workloads increase.

How does Axual support both self-service agility and centralized governance?

Axual's self-service interface lets authorized users create topics and manage schemas without admin bottlenecks, while role-based access controls enforce organizational policies. The platform translates user permissions into Kafka ACLs automatically, with configurable approval workflows and comprehensive audit trails for compliance. Teams get development agility while architects maintain control over data streams, access policies, and governance across all environments.

What specialized expertise does Axual provide beyond typical Kakfa implementation services?

Axual brings sector-specific expertise from mission-critical implementations across energy, healthcare, and financial services. This includes understanding European regulations like GDPR, MiFID II, and data sovereignty needs that generic Kafka consultants often lack. The platform incorporates lessons from deployments requiring 99.999% availability and delivers built-in enterprise governance.