Many IT heads want to ditch US cloud services – but does the UK have an alternative?

• Half of UK businesses want to ditch US cloud providers
• Many have already started repatriating applications
• Data security remains a high concern

New research from data center solution provider Asanti has revealed that one in two (52%) UK IT leaders plan to move away from US cloud providers.

Although previous reports have suggested that ongoing geopolitical tensions could be motivating some leaders to switch, Asanti says data sovereignty (95%) and data residency (93%) requirements are mostly responsible.

The survey's respondents agree that recent political developments are causing them to want to limit data exposure to US jurisdiction, but this was a concern only raised by 45%.

UK companies want to use US clouds less

The demand for greater trust, control and strategic sovereignty in data management are pushing the shift, with companies becoming increasingly aware of jurisdictional risks. Geopolitical tensions and the involvement of regulatory bodies has also caused many companies to reconsider their setups.

"It’s no longer just about performance or cost. It’s about trust, control and strategic sovereignty," Asanti CEO Stewart Laing explained.

Although we're beginning to see more reports about cloud relocations, the trend has been ongoing for many months. In October 2024, 91% of organizations were already repatriating some applications, Asanti says.

High public cloud costs (41%), limited control and customization (39%), slow real-time data transfer (36%) and security, compliance and risk concerns (39%) were all raised during a previous study, suggesting a broad sense of dissatisfaction with solutions traditionally provided by US hyperscalers.

Laing added: "Cloud is powerful – but not perfect. The lesson here is that infrastructure strategy needs to be driven by business needs, not vendor hype."

However, repatriating applications comes with its own challenges, including migration complexity (38%), vendor lock-in and inflexible contracts (36%) and a lack of skills to deal with migrations (41%).

Looking ahead, Asanti is advising businesses not only to consider their needs from a solution, but also to assess geopolitical risks, match workload sensitive with hosting models and to ensure flexibility.

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