Balancing Sustainability, Sovereignty, and Security: An Industrial Case Study

The growing complexity of software-intensive systems has made it essential to address sustainability, security, and sovereignty (S3) concerns in a structured and meaningful way. To that end, this study explores the practical application of a specific assessment model for S3 - the S3 Model - by applying it to a financial software system evaluating how well the system aligns with critical regulatory requirements. To support this evaluation, we develop a custom Mapping Tool that integrates sustainability tactics, security protocols, and sovereignty requirements into a unified compliance assessment structure. The results of the case study showcase the feasibility of operationalizing the S3 Model in an industrial setting and demonstrate that the evaluated software system exhibits strong compliance in security and sovereignty, while revealing gaps in sustainability. The mapping process also exposed limitations in the structure of the S3 Model, such as its difficulty in capturing dynamic dependencies. Overall, the study highlights the potential of the S3 Model and the accompanying mapping tool to guide organizations in aligning software systems with evolving regulatory and operational demands.