Most companies don’t think they could leave their main cloud provider quickly should the worst happen

• Businesses are starting to recognize that they’re locked into vendors from all angles
• AI could add yet another element to keep customers locked into providers
• Four in five have already taken action to move, many would even pay a premium

Nine in 10 (89%) businesses admit they couldn’t migrate business-critical workloads away from their primary cloud provider within three weeks if it came to it evidencing widespread vendor lock-in challenges.

New Leaseweb research found more than half (55%) said it would take longer than three months, not weeks – or that it wouldn’t even be possible.

But this reality contrasts with a false perception of control – three in four (76%) of the 800 surveyed C-suite leaders feel they have ‘complete’ or ‘high’ control over their ability to move data to another provider.

Cloud lock-in is more widespread than businesses perceive

One of the biggest challenges cited in the Leaseweb report centers around applications built to a particular provider’s infrastructure – while the customer may retain control over their data, picking up and moving that application to another cloud provider isn’t so simple.

But despite best efforts to level the playing field, improve interoperability and eliminate vendor lock-in, many European countries are still struggling on this front. The Netherlands reported the longest average migration time, at 4.7 months.

Looking ahead, four in five (79%) business leaders expect things to get worse through AI adoption, because buying into specific AI tools would increase their dependence on a small number of providers.

Cloud infrastructure is undergoing a global change

Leaseweb also noted that geopolitical tensions are continuing to reshape the cloud landscape, with four in five (78%) businesses already having taken action to reduce their reliance on a provider.

Interestingly, while the EU leads many discussions around digital sovereignty, it was the US that saw the highest proportion (91%) of businesses taking action.

Crucially, businesses are clearly willing to pay a premium to have greater control over their infrastructure, with the average business prepared to pay 16% more.

Still, Leaseweb is warning businesses that they have less control than they think they have. “With AI expected to tie businesses even more closely to a small number of providers, leaders need to understand and act on those dependencies now, not when a pricing change or geopolitical shift forces their hand,” co-CEO Lex Boost wrote.