Cloud Lock-In Woes: 89% of Businesses Struggle with Provider Migration Amid AI and Geopolitical Challenges
November 5, 2026
Around 89% of businesses say they could not migrate critical workloads away from their primary cloud provider within three weeks, highlighting widespread vendor lock-in.
The Netherlands shows the longest average migration time at about 4.7 months, illustrating regional differences in ease of switching providers.
Despite these challenges, 76% of surveyed C-suite leaders feel they have complete or high control over moving data to another provider, revealing a misperception of their actual leverage.
Geopolitical tensions are driving changes in the cloud landscape, with 78% of businesses already taking steps to reduce reliance on a single provider.
Applications built on a provider's infrastructure complicate moving workloads, even if data can be migrated, underscoring lock-in challenges beyond data portability.
About 79% of business leaders anticipate AI adoption will worsen lock-in by increasing reliance on a small number of providers due to dependence on specific AI tools.
More than half (55%) expect migration to take longer than three months, or may be impossible, indicating deep-rooted dependence on current providers.
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