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For UK and EU enterprises, the debate over cloud storage has shifted from performance alone to critical issues of sovereignty, cost predictability, and regulatory control. While US-based hyperscaler object storage set the initial standard, many organisations now face challenges with vendor lock-in, complex billing, and exposure to non-EU laws. A significant majority of EU decision-makers now demand European solutions for their critical data. This article directly compares the hyperscaler model with the advantages of EU-based, S3-compatible object storage, focusing on how to achieve digital sovereignty, transparent pricing, and robust security without sacrificing performance or compatibility.
Key Takeaways
- EU object storage provides digital sovereignty by keeping data within EU borders and under EU law, mitigating risks from foreign legislation like the CLOUD Act.
- A key difference between AWS S3 and EU object storage is the pricing model; EU providers often eliminate unpredictable egress fees and API call costs, offering predictable billing.
- Full S3 API compatibility in EU object storage ensures seamless migration and continued operation of existing applications and tools without vendor lock-in.
Secure Digital Sovereignty with EU-Centric Storage
For European businesses, data sovereignty is no longer a niche concern; it is a strategic imperative. Storing data with non-EU providers creates exposure to foreign legislation, such as the CLOUD Act, which can conflict with GDPR principles. Research shows 72% of European SMEs express concern about their data being stored in the United States. EU-based object storage, operated exclusively in certified European data centers, provides a direct solution. It ensures your data remains under EU jurisdiction, simplifying GDPR compliance and eliminating legal ambiguity. This approach is foundational to building digital trust, as 84% of European organizations are now actively using or planning to use sovereign cloud solutions. By choosing a provider committed to EU-only operations, you gain the legal certainty required for regulated workloads in sectors like finance and healthcare.
Eliminate Unpredictable Costs with a Transparent Pricing Model
A major pain point for businesses using hyperscaler storage is unpredictable billing, driven by hidden charges. Egress fees-the cost to move your data out of the cloud-can account for up to 15% of a total cloud bill, creating significant financial risk. In contrast, a true EU object storage alternative is built on a predictable economic model. This includes the following key differences:
- Zero Egress Fees: Freely move your data for disaster recovery, analytics, or migration without penalty.
- No API Call Costs: Automate and integrate your applications without worrying about charges for every request.
- No Minimum Storage Duration: Pay only for the storage you use, for as long as you use it, offering complete financial flexibility.
This transparent approach transforms cloud storage from a variable operational expense into a predictable, manageable budget item. A recent survey highlighted that 56% of IT professionals consider hyperscaler egress fees to be excessive, reinforcing the need for a fairer model. Predictable pricing is a cornerstone of a sustainable cloud cost strategy.
Maintain Full Application Compatibility Without Vendor Lock-In
The fear of complex migrations often prevents companies from leaving their current providers. However, leading EU object storage solutions are designed for seamless transitions with 100% S3 API compatibility. This ensures your existing applications, scripts, and backup tools continue to work without any code rewrites. You can point your tools to a new endpoint, swap credentials, and maintain your established workflows, protecting years of investment in your tech stack. This compatibility extends to advanced features like versioning, lifecycle management, and object tagging. By leveraging a fully compatible S3 interface, organisations can reduce vendor lock-in and simplify data migration, a process that 94% of enterprises report improves operational efficiency. This makes switching to a sovereign EU provider a practical, low-risk decision.
Enhance Resilience with an Always-Hot Architecture
Hyperscaler storage often relies on complex tiering models, where data is moved between hot, cool, and cold storage to manage costs. This approach introduces significant operational risks, including restore delays, API timeouts, and unexpected retrieval fees. An EU object storage solution with an "Always-Hot" architecture eliminates these issues entirely. All data is immediately accessible, ensuring consistent performance for any workload, from backup and recovery to analytics. This model is especially critical for ransomware protection. When combined with Immutable Storage (Object Lock), your backups are protected from deletion or modification by malicious actors. Reports show that 93% of ransomware attacks now target backup repositories, making immutability a crucial last line of defense. An always-on, immutable architecture provides the resilience needed to recover from an attack in minutes, not days.
Achieve Proactive Compliance with EU Regulations
The European regulatory landscape is constantly evolving, and your storage provider must be aligned with its trajectory. Two key regulations underscore the advantage of an EU-native provider:
- The EU Data Act (from September 2025): This regulation mandates data portability and interoperability, requiring cloud providers to remove barriers that create vendor lock-in. An EU-based provider built on open standards inherently aligns with this principle, ensuring you can always move your data.
- The NIS-2 Directive: This directive imposes stringent cybersecurity requirements on critical infrastructure, including supply-chain assurance and incident reporting within 24-72 hours. A provider operating under EU law designs its security processes around these mandates from the ground up.
Choosing a provider that treats these regulations as a design principle, not a compliance afterthought, gives your business a competitive advantage. It ensures your data infrastructure is ready for the future of EU digital policy. This proactive stance is vital for any EU-first data strategy.
Empower MSPs and Channel Partners with a Predictable Business Model
For Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and resellers, profitability hinges on predictable margins. The hyperscaler model of charging for egress and API calls makes it difficult to build scalable, fixed-fee services like Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS). An EU object storage provider designed for the channel offers a clear value proposition. The absence of egress and API fees allows partners to build services with defensible, stable margins. Features like a multi-tenant console with robust identity and access management (IAM) and automation via API/CLI simplify management and onboarding. With growing distribution networks, including partners like api in Germany and Northamber plc in the UK, local access and support for MSPs are stronger than ever. This partner-centric approach ensures MSPs can deliver sovereign, compliant storage solutions to their clients without risking their own profitability.
Take Practical Steps Toward a Sovereign Cloud Strategy
Migrating to a sovereign EU object storage solution is a straightforward process designed to minimize disruption. The first step is to assess your current data landscape and identify workloads that require EU data residency for compliance or strategic reasons. Next, leverage the 100% S3 compatibility to test your existing backup jobs and applications with the new storage endpoint. A leading provider will offer tools and expert support to ensure a smooth transition. Finally, perform a test restore to validate the integrity and performance of your new setup. By taking these deliberate steps, you can transition to a more secure, predictable, and compliant storage environment. Ready to take control of your data? Start your migration plan today.
More Links
The German Data Protection Conference (DSK) provides a position paper outlining criteria for sovereign clouds.
The German Data Protection Conference (DSK) offers a document discussing cloud computing from a data protection perspective.
The European Commission details the European Data Strategy, an initiative to create a single market for data.
The European Commission announces the entry into force of the Data Act and explains its implications.
Eurostat offers statistics on the use of cloud computing by enterprises in the European Union.
This Eurostat news article presents recent data on cloud computing usage by EU enterprises.
FAQ
What does S3-compatible mean?
S3-compatible means the storage service uses the same Application Programming Interface (API) as Amazon's Simple Storage Service (S3). This allows you to use the same tools, applications, and scripts that you use with S3 to manage your data, ensuring a seamless transition and no need for costly application rewrites.
How does geofencing work with EU object storage?
Geofencing ensures that your data is stored exclusively within specific, predefined geographical regions-for instance, only in data centers located in Germany or France. This provides country-level control over data residency, which is essential for meeting strict regulatory requirements in industries like finance and healthcare.
What is an 'Always-Hot' storage model?
An 'Always-Hot' storage model means all your data is immediately accessible at high performance, without any delays or extra fees for retrieval. This contrasts with tiered models that move infrequently accessed data to slower, cheaper 'cold' storage, which can cause significant delays and costs when you need to restore it urgently.
Can I use my existing backup software with your storage?
Yes. Our platform offers out-of-the-box integrations with leading backup software vendors like Veeam and NovaBackup. The full S3 API compatibility ensures that any backup tool that can write to an S3 target will work seamlessly with our service.
How does your pricing model benefit MSPs?
Our predictable pricing model, with no egress fees or API call charges, allows Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to build and sell services like Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) with stable, predictable margins. This eliminates the risk of unexpected costs eating into their profits, which is a common problem with hyperscaler pricing.
What is the EU Data Act and how does your service comply?
The EU Data Act, effective from September 2025, promotes data portability and aims to prevent vendor lock-in. Our service is designed for compliance by using open standards and providing a fully S3-compatible API, which makes it easy for customers to migrate their data to another provider at any time.



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