Amid the economic uncertainty of Trump 2.0, dependence on American tech has become a growing concern for many businesses, and a survey of 1,000 IT leaders claims that data sovereignty is now one of the most pressing issues.
This comes from research carried out by Civo, a UK-based cloud operator which undoubtedly has skin in the game, having campaigned against what it sees as unfair practices by the hyperscalers for some time.
Nevertheless, the figures making for interesting reading in the context of the Trump tariff war the US is waging against much of the world – except perhaps Russia.
The "The Digital Sovereignty Revolution" survey found 84 percent of UK IT leaders are now concerned that geopolitical developments could threaten their ability to access and control their data, and 61 percent of organizations say sovereignty is a strategic priority.
This doesn't just apply to themselves; according to Civo, 60 percent of respondents believe the British government should stop procuring cloud services from US companies in the wake of the tariffs imposed on UK imports by Trump.
When it does come to their own organizations, though, nearly half (45 percent) of the 1,000 techies polled indicated they are actively considering repatriating data from the big hyperscaler platforms, and 37 percent said they are concerned the US government could sequester their data, a concern which is naturally greater among those working in sectors with strict regulatory obligations.
(They are right to be concerned: the US CLOUD Act allows law enforcement agencies in America to demand access to data held by any US company, even if that data is stored on servers located in other countries.)
Only 35 percent of organizations claimed to have full visibility into where their data is stored and processed, while 82 percent would consider switching from the big US tech firms in order to gain more control over data location and governance – the latter no doubt music to Civo's ears.
"These results will be no surprise to anyone with their ear to the ground in the industry," chief exec Mark Boost said in a statement.
"People are more alert than ever to just how valuable their data is, and it's been astonishing how quickly cloud repatriation and sovereignty have become leading strategic considerations for IT leaders," he claimed.
"It's time for the UK to match the energy of European sovereignty initiatives like EuroStack to help reduce reliance on hyperscale providers whilst still encouraging transatlantic collaboration," Boost added.
Some of the hyperscalers appear to have taken heed: Microsoft recently pledged greater privacy safeguards for customers, and said it is prepared to fight the US government in court to protect European customer data, while Google updated its sovereign cloud portfolio.
But if seasoned market watchers can be believed, those hoping to make the switch from one of the big hyperscalers to a local cloud may find the process is more difficult than they expect.
- Euro techies call for sovereign fund to escape Uncle Sam's digital death grip
- Microsoft gets twitchy over talk of Europe's tech independence
- Google carves out cloudy safe spaces for nations nervous about America's reach
- 'Close to impossible' for Europe to escape clutches of US hyperscalers
"Most regional cloud providers are not on par with global hyperscalers in both execution and vision. Therefore, completely eliminating dependency on global cloud hyperscalers without losing significant functionalities is, at present, nearly impossible," Gartner advisory director Joe Rogus said.
Meanwhile, for those looking to attempt it, a separate survey by HostingAdvice.com asked 500 IT leaders to rank cloud operators by how flexible they are when it comes to making the shift to another provider.
Of the big hyperscale firms, Google was ranked the most accommodating, followed by Azure and AWS, with Oracle Cloud the least flexible. Perhaps pertinent advice on which cloud to choose if you want to have a smoother exit in future. ®
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