European Cloud
Data Residency
Azure vs UK data centres
Azure vs UK Data Centres: Why Location Isn't Enough for True Data Sovereignty
Storing your data in a UK-based data centre owned by a US company feels secure, but does it guarantee sovereignty? The US CLOUD Act creates a legal conflict with GDPR, potentially exposing your most sensitive information. Discover why a European-owned cloud is the only way to ensure total control.
Key Takeaways
Data sovereignty is determined by legal jurisdiction, not just the physical location of a data centre; the US CLOUD Act can compel US firms to provide data stored in the UK.
A true European cloud provider, governed by EU law, is the only way to ensure GDPR compliance and avoid exposure to foreign government data requests.
Predictable pricing models without egress or API fees are essential for budget control and avoiding the vendor lock-in common with hyperscalers.
For UK IT leaders, the debate over Azure vs UK data centres often centres on latency and performance. Yet, the most significant risk isn't technical—it's legal. Storing data locally with a US-based hyperscaler doesn't remove it from the reach of foreign laws like the US CLOUD Act. This creates a direct conflict with GDPR, putting UK firms in a difficult compliance position. True digital sovereignty requires more than just a UK address for your servers; it demands a provider whose entire legal and operational framework is rooted in Europe, ensuring your data remains governed exclusively by EU rules.
The Myth of Location: Why a UK Data Centre Isn't a Fortress
Many UK businesses choose US cloud providers with local data centres, believing this satisfies data residency needs. However, data residency is not the same as data sovereignty. Residency is about the physical location of data, whereas sovereignty refers to the legal jurisdiction it falls under. The US CLOUD Act of 2018 allows US authorities to demand data from US-based tech companies, regardless of where that data is stored globally.
This means your sensitive corporate information, stored just down the road, could be legally accessed by a foreign government without your knowledge. This legal reach applies to all US-parented companies and their subsidiaries, creating a significant compliance gap. Jurisdiction follows ownership, making the provider's origin more important than the server's location. This reality undermines the core principles of GDPR and the protections established by rulings like Schrems II. The only way to ensure your data is governed solely by EU law is to partner with a provider that is truly European.
Achieve Verifiable Compliance with EU-Native Architecture
True compliance goes beyond checking a box for a UK data centre. Upcoming EU regulations create even stricter obligations that only a sovereign provider can meet. The EU Data Act, fully applicable from September 2025, mandates data portability and interoperability to prevent vendor lock-in. It requires providers to offer clear exit paths, including metadata and configurations, a principle at odds with complex hyperscaler models.
Additionally, the NIS-2 Directive requires robust supply-chain assurance and continuous security processes for critical infrastructure. A European provider, governed by these same regulations, builds these requirements into its core operations. Impossible Cloud operates exclusively in certified European data centres with country-level geofencing. This ensures your data stays in predefined regions under EU rules, giving you the legal certainty needed for regulated workloads and aligning with strict GDPR data residency rules.
Escape Hidden Fees and Predict Your Cloud Spend
The complex pricing of hyperscalers makes budget forecasting nearly impossible. A recent industry study found that 62% of IT leaders exceeded their cloud budgets, with unexpected fees being a top reason. These costs often come from egress fees (charges for moving your data out) and API call charges, which can make up over 40% of a total bill. This model creates a strong disincentive to move data, contributing to vendor lock-in.
A transparent economic model is a core component of a practical cloud strategy. Impossible Cloud eliminates this uncertainty entirely with a predictable pricing model. We offer:
Zero egress fees: Access or move your data as needed without penalty.
No API call costs: Run your applications and scripts without worrying about usage-based charges.
No minimum storage durations: Pay only for what you use, for as long as you use it.
This approach gives you the financial clarity to plan effectively and removes the economic barriers to a true multi-cloud or hybrid strategy, a key step in avoiding vendor lock-in.
Build Resilient Operations with an Always-Hot Architecture
Hyperscaler storage often relies on complex tiering, where data is moved between hot, cool, and archive layers to manage costs. This approach introduces significant operational risk. Restoring data from colder tiers can cause delays of hours, trigger unexpected retrieval fees, and break third-party application integrations that expect immediate data access. This complexity undermines the speed needed for effective disaster recovery.
Impossible Cloud uses an “Always-Hot” object storage model, where all data is immediately accessible without any restore delays. This simplifies operations, ensures predictable performance, and keeps your backup and recovery tools stable. Full S3-API compatibility means your existing applications, scripts, and tools continue to work without code rewrites. This protects your past investments and dramatically simplifies any potential migration from a hyperscaler.
Secure Your Data Against Ransomware with Immutable Storage
Ransomware remains one of the biggest threats to UK businesses, with attacks growing more sophisticated each year. A robust defence requires more than just backups; it requires backups that cannot be altered or deleted by a malicious actor. This is achieved with Immutable Storage, also known as S3 Object Lock. This feature allows you to set retention policies that make your data tamper-proof for a specified period, ensuring a clean recovery point is always available.
Impossible Cloud provides Immutable Storage as a core feature, integrated with multi-layer encryption and identity-based IAM with MFA. This security is paired with EU-controlled key management, ensuring that every layer of your data's protection is governed by EU law. This sovereign-by-design approach provides an audit-ready retention solution that forms the bedrock of a modern ransomware protection strategy. This is a critical consideration when conducting an evaluation of your storage provider.
Empower UK Channel Partners with Predictable Margins
For UK MSPs, resellers, and system integrators, the unpredictable costs of hyperscalers directly erode profit margins. Selling Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) or archiving solutions becomes a high-risk gamble when egress and API fees can spike unexpectedly. Impossible Cloud's predictable-by-design model transforms this. With zero egress or API fees and no minimum durations, partners can build services with stable, defensible margins.
We are committed to the UK channel, as demonstrated by our partnership with our first UK distributor, Northamber plc. Our partner-ready platform includes:
Multi-tenant management console with RBAC/MFA.
Full automation capabilities via API/CLI.
Simplified compliance for backup and archive services.
Fast and straightforward onboarding.
This combination of a predictable economic model and robust partner tools provides a clear path to profitable growth for our UK partners, addressing the common limitations of other platforms.
More Links
Wikipedia provides a comprehensive overview of data sovereignty.
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) offers guidelines and best practices on data protection, relevant to cloud computing and data sovereignty.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) provides information on cloud computing and data protection for the public.
The German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) presents statistical data on cloud computing adoption in German businesses.
The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) offers a market analysis of cloud cybersecurity.
FAQ
Why should I choose a European cloud provider over a US hyperscaler with UK data centres?
A European provider like Impossible Cloud operates exclusively under EU law, guaranteeing your data is protected by GDPR and shielded from foreign laws like the US CLOUD Act. This provides true data sovereignty, predictable costs with no egress fees, and a platform that is compliant by design with upcoming regulations like the EU Data Act and NIS-2.
How does Impossible Cloud ensure my data stays in a specific region?
We operate exclusively in certified European data centres and provide country-level geofencing. This allows you to restrict your data to predefined regions, ensuring it never leaves the jurisdiction you have selected and remains compliant with EU data residency rules.
Is it difficult to migrate from a provider like Azure?
No. Impossible Cloud is fully S3-API compatible, which means your existing applications, tools, and scripts can connect to our platform with minimal changes—typically just updating the endpoint and credentials. This dramatically simplifies migration and eliminates the need for costly code rewrites.
How does your pricing model help my business save money?
Our transparent pricing model has zero egress fees, no API call charges, and no minimum storage durations. This eliminates the hidden costs that cause over 60% of companies to exceed their cloud budgets. You get a predictable, easy-to-understand bill based purely on the storage you use.
What is S3 Object Lock and how does it protect against ransomware?
S3 Object Lock (Immutable Storage) allows you to make data unchangeable and undeletable for a period you define. If you are hit by a ransomware attack, your immutable backups remain untouched, guaranteeing you have a clean, uncorrupted copy of your data to restore from.
How does Impossible Cloud support MSPs and channel partners in the UK?
We are 100% channel-focused. Our predictable pricing model allows partners to build services with stable margins. We provide a multi-tenant partner console, full automation via API/CLI, and have a UK distribution partnership with Northamber plc to support local resellers and MSPs.
