{
  "id": 18311432,
  "title": "Most companies don't think they could leave their main cloud provider quickly should the worst happen",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/most-companies-dont-think-they-could-leave-their-main-cloud-provider",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-11-05T12:25:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TechRadar",
    "slug": "techradar",
    "url": "https://www.techradar.com/pro/most-companies-dont-think-they-could-leave-their-main-cloud-provider-quickly-should-the-worst-happen"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.\n\nDespite 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.\n\nWhile 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.\n\nGeopolitical 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.\n\nHowever, 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.",
  "summary": "Customers feel largely in control about their data, but picking up an app and moving it to a different provider is a whole other issue.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}