Cloud Storage
Enterprise Storage
Backblaze cloud storage
Beyond Backblaze Cloud Storage: A Sovereign EU-Alternative for 2025
Enterprises are discovering that up to 50% of their cloud storage bill is consumed by hidden fees for egress and API calls. A sovereign, S3-compatible Backblaze cloud storage alternative eliminates these costs entirely. This shift provides a predictable financial model and ensures full GDPR compliance.
Key Takeawys
Shift to a sovereign Backblaze cloud storage alternative to ensure GDPR compliance and avoid exposure to non-EU laws like the CLOUD Act.
Eliminate unpredictable cloud bills by choosing a provider with zero egress fees and API call charges, saving up to 50% of your total cost.
Protect against ransomware with immutable backups using S3 Object Lock, a critical defense with 75% of organisations facing an attack by 2025.
For UK and EU IT leaders, selecting a cloud storage partner involves more than just capacity planning; it requires navigating a complex web of data sovereignty laws, unpredictable costs, and escalating security threats. Many find their budgets strained by variable egress fees, which can account for half of their total spend. Furthermore, reliance on non-EU providers creates exposure to foreign laws that conflict with GDPR's strict protections. The market now demands a practical, enterprise-ready European alternative that offers performance parity, transparent pricing, and a resilient defense against ransomware. This is where sovereign-by-design object storage becomes a strategic asset.
Achieve True Data Sovereignty in EU Data Centres
A majority of EU decision-makers now demand European solutions for their critical data infrastructure. Storing data in strictly EU-controlled data centres is the only certain way to ensure it is not accessible to foreign government inspection. This approach directly addresses the risks posed by non-EU laws that can override GDPR protections. Our geofenced storage options guarantee your data never leaves your chosen country, ensuring 100% compliance.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) mandates that personal data transfers outside the EEA meet stringent conditions. Our architecture is sovereign by design, operating exclusively in certified European data centres to eliminate this legal risk entirely. This provides total EU legal certainty for regulated workloads in finance and healthcare. This focus on sovereignty prepares your infrastructure for the future of EU regulations.
Eliminate Unpredictable Costs with a Zero-Fee Model
In 2023, 53% of EMEA organisations exceeded their cloud storage budgets, largely due to hidden charges. On average, 50% of a company's cloud storage bill is allocated to egress fees and API call charges, not actual storage capacity. Our model eliminates these variable costs, offering a predictable structure with zero egress fees, no API call costs, and no minimum storage duration. This transparency allows for precise budgeting with a 0% chance of surprise invoices.
High egress costs are a primary driver of vendor lock-in, making data migration prohibitively expensive for 48% of companies. A zero-egress model provides the freedom to move data as needed, supporting multi-cloud strategies and ensuring you retain negotiating power. Here are the core economic benefits:
Predictable Margins: MSPs can build services with stable, defensible margins.
No Restore Penalties: Accessing your backups frequently incurs zero extra cost.
Simplified Billing: Your invoice reflects only the storage you use, down to the last byte.
Enhanced Flexibility: Test new applications without worrying about data transfer costs.
This economic clarity is fundamental to building a more flexible and resilient data management strategy.
Leverage Full S3 Compatibility for Seamless Migration
True S3 compatibility protects your existing technology investments, saving thousands in development costs. It ensures that all your current applications, scripts, and tools continue to work without any code rewrites. This API-first approach supports not just basic operations but also advanced capabilities like versioning and lifecycle management. A 2025 study showed 94% of enterprises report improved efficiency after migrating to S3-based solutions.
Full S3 API compatibility reduces migration risk to near zero and can accelerate project timelines by 30%. It allows your teams to use the SDKs and CLIs they already know, ensuring a smooth transition with no retraining required. This interoperability is a key reason enterprises are choosing S3-compatible alternatives to avoid vendor lock-in and maintain long-term strategic freedom. This architectural consistency is the foundation for reliable performance at scale.
Deploy an Always-Hot Architecture for Instant Access
Complex storage tiering often creates operational fragility, leading to unexpected restore delays and API timeouts. Our “Always-Hot” object storage model ensures 100% of your data is immediately accessible, eliminating retrieval fees and complexity. This design provides strong read/write consistency and predictable latencies, critical for mixed workloads. It supports millions of small files as efficiently as petabyte-scale archives.
This architecture is built for high availability, using multi-AZ replication to eliminate single points of failure. This guarantees data integrity and accessibility, which is essential for backup and disaster recovery use cases. The always-hot model reduces operational complexity by at least 40% compared to tiered systems. This resilience is your first line of defense, which is powerfully complemented by immutable backups.
Activate Immutable Storage for Ransomware Resilience
By 2025, an estimated 75% of IT organisations will be hit by a ransomware attack. Immutable backups, using S3 Object Lock, provide a final, unbreakable line of defense. This feature makes it impossible to alter or delete data for a defined retention period, rendering ransomware attacks on your backups completely ineffective. Even if attackers gain administrative credentials, they cannot encrypt or erase your recovery points.
Implementing a robust backup strategy is a core requirement of the NIS-2 directive. Our immutable storage helps you meet this obligation by design. Follow these best practices for maximum ransomware protection:
Set a WORM (Write-Once-Read-Many) policy on all critical backup repositories.
Use role-based access control (RBAC) with MFA to protect the backup console.
Regularly test your restore process from immutable copies, aiming for a 100% success rate.
Keep at least one immutable copy of your data geographically separate.
This proactive security posture is essential for navigating the evolving regulatory landscape.
Ensure Compliance with the EU Data Act and NIS-2
The EU Data Act, fully applicable from 12 September 2025, mandates that cloud providers remove barriers to switching. It requires that customers can transfer their data, including metadata and configurations, within a 30-day window. Our platform is built on open standards to ensure data portability by design, giving you a proven exit strategy and preventing vendor lock-in. This aligns perfectly with the Act's goal of creating a fair and competitive European data economy.
The NIS-2 Directive also requires entities to implement robust supply-chain security and continuous risk management. By partnering with a European provider that bakes these principles into its operations, you strengthen your own compliance posture. Our focus on EU-centric governance and transparent security processes helps you meet these new regulatory demands without adding operational overhead. This partner-centric approach extends to our channel ecosystem.
Empower MSPs with a Partner-Ready Platform
More Links
European Union provides information on GDPR rules for businesses dealing with customer data within the EU.
European Commission outlines its policies on cloud computing as part of the digital strategy.
German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) offers statistics on the use of cloud computing in enterprises in Germany.
Bitkom provides insights into the cloud market through its Cloud Report 2025 presentation.
WIK Scientific Institute discusses the strategic importance of cloud services for the digital sovereignty of SMEs.
PwC presents its EMEA cloud business survey, offering insights into cloud adoption and trends in the EMEA region.
KPMG offers a report on cyber considerations for 2025.
FAQ
What is sovereign cloud storage?
Sovereign cloud storage is a service that stores and processes data exclusively within a specific country's jurisdiction, under its laws. For EU businesses, this means using a provider with data centres located only in Europe, operated by a European company, ensuring full compliance with GDPR and protection from foreign laws like the US CLOUD Act.
How does a 'no egress fee' model benefit my business?
A model with no egress or API fees provides complete cost predictability. You only pay for the storage you consume, eliminating surprise charges for data retrieval, backups, or migration. This simplifies budgeting, prevents vendor lock-in, and typically saves businesses between 30-50% on their total cloud storage costs.
Is it difficult to migrate from a service like Backblaze?
Migration is straightforward with a provider that offers full S3 API compatibility. Your existing tools, applications, and scripts can be pointed to the new storage endpoint with minimal configuration changes. This approach significantly reduces the time, cost, and risk associated with data migration.
What is S3 Object Lock and why is it important for security?
S3 Object Lock is a feature that makes data immutable, meaning it cannot be altered or deleted for a specified retention period. It is a critical defense against ransomware, as it ensures that even if your primary systems are compromised, your backups remain secure and untouched, guaranteeing a clean source for data recovery.
How does your platform support MSPs and channel partners?
Our platform is designed for the channel with a multi-tenant console, full automation via API/CLI, and predictable margins thanks to our zero-fee pricing model. We are expanding our distribution network, which includes Northamber plc in the UK, to provide local support and fast onboarding for our partners.
How does your service align with the upcoming EU Data Act?
The EU Data Act, effective September 2025, mandates data portability. Our service is built on open standards and full S3 compatibility, ensuring you can easily move your data to another provider at any time. This commitment to no lock-in aligns perfectly with the spirit and letter of the new regulation.
