Prioritize Digital Sovereignty for Acronis Data

True data sovereignty ensures your Acronis backups are governed exclusively by EU law, a distinction that 87% of IT leaders now consider a top priority. Storing data in a European data center owned by a non-EU entity still exposes it to foreign jurisdictions like the US CLOUD Act. This creates a compliance gap many businesses can no longer afford.

A sovereign-by-design approach solves this by operating exclusively in certified European data centers under a European legal entity. This provides a 100% guarantee against non-EU data access requests, a critical factor for regulated industries. With country-level geofencing, you can enforce data residency within specific nations, aligning with the strictest GDPR storage requirements.

This level of control is fundamental for maintaining legal certainty and protecting sensitive customer information stored in your Acronis backups. It moves your strategy from simple data residency to complete digital sovereignty.

Eliminate Unpredictable Costs with a Zero-Egress Model

Unexpected fees for data retrieval (egress) and API calls can derail budgets, a major pain point for organizations using Acronis for frequent backup and recovery operations. A predictable cost model eliminates these charges entirely, offering clear financial planning with zero egress fees, zero API call costs, and no minimum storage durations. This transparency is a core tenet of the upcoming EU Data Act, which will ban all cloud exit fees by 2027.

For Managed Service Providers (MSPs), this model is a game-changer for building profitable Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) offerings. It provides the foundation for predictable margins and simplified billing for clients. Enterprises benefit by avoiding financial lock-in, allowing them to perform restores or migrate data without penalty. This economic clarity is a primary driver for over 50% of businesses switching cloud providers.

Ensure Seamless Integration with Enterprise-Grade S3 Compatibility

The best S3 storage for Acronis in Europe must offer more than basic API support; it requires 100% S3 API compatibility. This ensures all your existing Acronis configurations, scripts, and management tools continue to work without modification. It protects your past investments and reduces migration risk to near zero.

An enterprise-ready solution supports advanced S3 features out-of-the-box, which are essential for modern data protection strategies. These capabilities include:

• Object Versioning: Protects against accidental deletions or overwrites by keeping multiple versions of an object.
• Lifecycle Management: Automates data transition policies without requiring complex and fragile tiering.
• Event Notifications: Triggers automated workflows for improved monitoring and management.
• Immutable Object Lock: Provides verifiable, tamper-proof storage for ransomware protection and compliance.

This comprehensive support ensures your Acronis S3 integration is robust, scalable, and requires no code rewrites to function perfectly from day one.

Leverage an 'Always-Hot' Architecture for Instant Recovery

Complex storage tiering models introduce delays and unpredictable costs during urgent recovery scenarios, a critical failure point for any disaster recovery plan. An "Always-Hot" object storage architecture eliminates this risk entirely. All data is immediately accessible without any restore delays or rehydration fees, a crucial advantage when Acronis needs to perform a rapid restore.

This model simplifies operations by removing the need to manage brittle lifecycle policies that can lead to API timeouts or failed restores. It ensures predictable, low latencies for both read and write operations, which is vital for maintaining consistent backup windows. Under GDPR, organizations are required to restore data availability quickly after an incident, making an always-hot model a direct contributor to compliance. This architecture provides the performance parity needed to confidently move from legacy systems to a modern sovereign object storage solution.

Strengthen Ransomware Defense with Immutable Backups

Ransomware remains a top threat, making immutable backups a non-negotiable requirement for any secure Acronis deployment. Using S3 Object Lock, you can make your backup data unchangeable and undeletable for a specified period. This creates a tamper-proof copy of your data that even an attacker with administrative credentials cannot compromise.

This technology is a cornerstone of a resilient cybersecurity posture and directly supports compliance with the NIS-2 Directive. The directive mandates robust risk management and measures to prevent cyberattacks, and immutable storage provides verifiable proof of data integrity for audits. Implementing a 3-2-1 backup strategy with at least one immutable copy stored offsite in a sovereign cloud offers a powerful defense. This ensures you can recover clean data and restore operations with minimal downtime after an attack.

Future-Proof Your Strategy for NIS-2 and the EU Data Act

The European regulatory landscape is evolving, and your storage choice must be ready for what comes next. Two key regulations are reshaping compliance requirements for 2025 and beyond.

1. The NIS-2 Directive: Effective since October 2024, it requires organizations in critical sectors to secure their supply chains and implement stringent cybersecurity measures. Using a cloud provider that bakes in features like multi-layer encryption and IAM with MFA helps you meet these heightened security obligations.
2. The EU Data Act: Fully applicable from September 12, 2025, this regulation is designed to prevent vendor lock-in by ensuring data portability. A provider built on open standards with a zero-egress-fee model aligns perfectly with the Act's principles, proving a real exit path from day one.

Choosing a compliant S3 storage provider that is already aligned with these regulations ensures your Acronis backup strategy remains viable and competitive for years to come.

Empower MSPs with a Partner-Ready Platform

For MSPs and resellers, the right storage partner turns a technical solution into a business advantage. A platform designed for the channel provides the tools needed to deliver reliable and profitable Acronis BaaS. Predictable margins are guaranteed through the zero-egress and zero-API-fee model.

A partner-ready console simplifies operations with essential features like multi-tenant management, role-based access control (RBAC), and integrated reporting. Automation via a full-featured API and CLI allows for seamless integration into existing provisioning and billing systems. With fast onboarding and growing distribution channels, including api in Germany and Northamber plc in the UK, partners can scale their Acronis services quickly. This ecosystem support, combined with collaborations like the one with backup ISV NovaBackup, provides a clear path to market.

Take Practical Steps to a Sovereign Backup Solution

Migrating your Acronis backups to a sovereign S3 storage solution is a straightforward process. Start by defining your data residency and compliance needs to ensure you select the right European region. Next, configure your Acronis software with the new S3 endpoint credentials provided by your sovereign cloud partner.

Once connected, you can begin seeding your backups to the new storage target while your existing solution remains active, ensuring zero downtime. It is critical to perform test restores from the new repository to validate data integrity and recovery times, confirming that performance meets your RTOs. Finally, update your disaster recovery documentation with the new procedures. Talk to an expert to get a personalized migration plan for your Acronis environment.