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

The majority of organizations are now acknowledging that they are heavily dependent on their primary cloud provider. According to a survey by New Leaseweb, four out of five companies have already taken steps to migrate their data, and many would even consider paying a higher price for better control. However, nine in ten businesses (89%) are unable to relocate their business-critical workloads within three weeks, if required. This indicates the extent of vendor lock-in that many businesses currently face.

Despite this, three quarters (76%) of surveyed C-suite leaders believe they have complete or high control over the ability to move data to another provider. The issue is further complicated by applications that are built for a specific provider's infrastructure. Even though customers retain control over their data, moving such applications to another cloud provider is a complex task.

While efforts have been made to level the playing field and eliminate vendor lock-in, many European countries are still struggling with this issue. The Netherlands, for instance, reported the longest average migration time of 4.7 months. Looking ahead, four out of five (79%) business leaders expect the situation to worsen due to the adoption of AI, as purchasing specific AI tools would increase their dependence on a limited number of providers.

Geopolitical tensions are also reshaping the cloud landscape, with four out of five businesses (78%) taking action to reduce their reliance on a single provider. Interestingly, it was the US, rather than the EU, where the highest proportion (91%) of businesses took action. Despite the challenges, businesses are willing to pay a premium for greater control, with the average business prepared to pay 16% more.

However, Leaseweb warns that businesses may have less control than they think they do. With AI expected to tie businesses even more closely to a small number of providers, leaders need to understand and address these dependencies now, rather than waiting for a pricing change or geopolitical shift to force their hand, stated Leaseweb's co-CEO, Lex Boost.