Cloud Storage
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overprovisioning storage UK
Curb Overprovisioning Storage Waste in the UK with a Predictable, Sovereign Cloud Model
Nearly half of UK businesses overshot their cloud storage budgets last year, with 91% blaming hidden fees. Overprovisioning storage in the UK is a primary driver of this waste, creating significant financial and operational drag. This article outlines a clear strategy to eliminate these inefficiencies.
Key Takeaways
Overprovisioning is a primary driver of cloud overspending, with 94% of organisations admitting to wasted budget and 59% citing over-allocation as the cause.
Hidden fees for egress and API calls can account for over 41% of a monthly cloud storage bill, making cost prediction nearly impossible with traditional providers.
A sovereign cloud model with zero egress fees, EU-only data centres, and full S3 compatibility offers a direct solution to overprovisioning waste and regulatory risk.
A staggering 94% of organisations admit to overspending on cloud services, and for 59% of them, overprovisioning is the direct cause. This practice of allocating more storage than required creates a persistent drain on IT budgets across the United Kingdom. Many businesses accept this as a necessary buffer against performance issues, yet it inflates costs by an average of 37%. The problem is worsened by complex pricing models with unpredictable egress and API fees. It is time for a new approach that offers financial predictability and enhances control over your data.
Identify the Scale of Wasted Cloud Spend
Overprovisioning storage in the UK has become a critical issue, with one in two businesses reporting they exceeded their cloud storage budgets. This isn't a minor miscalculation; some firms report that 37% of their provisioned CPU resources are never even used. The core of the problem lies in paying for capacity you don't consume, a practice driven by fear of performance degradation. A virtual machine running at less than 30% utilisation is a clear indicator of this costly safety buffer. This consistent over-allocation directly impacts your bottom line and limits funds for innovation, a challenge noted by 68% of businesses. The first step toward a solution is a clear-eyed assessment of your current storage utilisation. Understanding this waste reveals the need for a more efficient architecture.
Expose the Hidden Fees That Inflate Costs
Beyond paying for unused capacity, hidden fees dramatically compound the cost of overprovisioning. A recent study found that for 91% of UK firms that overspent, unpredictable fees were the primary reason. These are not trivial amounts; a real-world analysis of one 250 TB cloud bill showed that extra fees for API calls and other operations accounted for 41% of the total monthly cost. These charges, often just fractions of a cent per 1,000 requests, accumulate rapidly across millions of operations. This billing complexity is why 56% of organisations report business delays directly caused by unexpected data costs. A transparent pricing model without these fees is essential for accurate storage cost analysis. This financial clarity is the foundation of a predictable cloud strategy.
Move Beyond Brittle and Inefficient Storage Tiering
Many organisations turn to automated storage tiering to control costs, but this approach often introduces more problems than it solves. The process is frequently inefficient, with manual workflows resulting in less than 10% of an organisation's cold data actually being moved. This leaves vast amounts of data on expensive primary storage unnecessarily. Furthermore, when data is needed from a cold tier, the process can be slow and expensive, with egress fees that range from 5 to 20 cents per GB. The complexity of managing lifecycle policies can lead to restore failures and API timeouts, disrupting backup and recovery operations. An “Always-Hot” object storage model, where all data is immediately accessible, eliminates this entire layer of complexity and risk. This model avoids the pitfalls of ineffective storage tiering. An always-on model simplifies operations and prepares your data for any contingency.
Adopt a Sovereign-by-Design Storage Architecture
For UK businesses, data sovereignty is a pressing concern, with one study showing 81% of companies prioritise the location of their provider's data centre. A sovereign-by-design approach places your data exclusively in certified European data centres, under EU law and safe from foreign jurisdiction like the CLOUD Act. This strategy directly addresses the preference of the 93% of firms that want their data stored locally or within the EU. Impossible Cloud offers this with country-level geofencing, ensuring data stays within a predefined region. This approach offers more than just compliance; it provides a competitive advantage. Here are the core benefits of this model:
Predictable Costs: Eliminate egress fees, API call costs, and minimum storage durations entirely.
Enhanced Compliance: Adhere to GDPR by design with EU-only data storage and governance.
Increased Resilience: Benefit from an architecture with no single point of failure and multi-layer encryption.
Full S3 Compatibility: Protect your existing investments with 100% S3 API compatibility for seamless integration.
This model provides the foundation for better growth forecasting for storage. It also ensures your infrastructure is ready for upcoming regulations.
Prepare for Stricter EU Data Regulations
The regulatory landscape is tightening, and your storage strategy must adapt. The NIS-2 Directive, which Member States implemented by October 2024, imposes stricter cybersecurity rules on over 160,000 entities across the EU. Non-compliance can lead to fines of up to 2% of global turnover, making resilient, well-documented infrastructure essential. Furthermore, the EU Data Act, effective from September 2025, mandates data portability and interoperability by design. This requires providers to offer real exit paths, preventing vendor lock-in and giving you long-term freedom. A sovereign cloud provider operating under EU law builds these principles into its core operations. This proactive stance on compliance is a key part of modern cloud spend optimisation. It also creates new opportunities for channel partners.
Empower UK Channel Partners with Predictable Margins
For Managed Service Providers and resellers, financial predictability is paramount for success. A storage model with zero egress or API fees provides the stable foundation needed to build profitable Backup-as-a-Service and archiving solutions. This predictability allows MSPs to offer competitive pricing while protecting their margins, a significant advantage when 44% of UK firms are exploring new IT models. Impossible Cloud is partner-ready, with UK distribution through Northamber plc to ensure local access and support. We provide the tools UK partners need for success:
Multi-Tenant Management: A dedicated partner console with robust role-based access control and MFA.
Full Automation: Complete control via API and CLI to integrate with existing management tools.
Simplified Onboarding: A fast and straightforward process to get partners and their clients running in hours, not weeks.
Transparent Reporting: Clear, simple reporting to track usage and manage client accounts without billing surprises.
This partner-centric approach simplifies the entire process of storage capacity planning for clients. Now is the time to take practical steps toward this model.
Take Control of Your Storage Strategy
More Links
Wikipedia provides a general overview of data sovereignty.
Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) presents statistical data on cloud computing usage among enterprises in Germany.
Destatis (Federal Statistical Office) offers a press release regarding cloud usage statistics.
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy presents Germany's Digital Strategy 2025.
TechUK discusses the implications of data sovereignty for the UK public sector.
UK Government provides a cloud guide for the public sector.
European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) offers a cloud cybersecurity market analysis.
German Environment Agency discusses cloud computing in the context of green IT and digital services.
FAQ
How does a predictable cost model solve overprovisioning?
A predictable model with no egress fees, API call charges, or minimum durations removes the financial penalties for accessing your data. This allows you to provision storage based on actual need, not fear of unpredictable costs, directly addressing the 37% average over-allocation of resources.
What does 'Sovereign by Design' mean for my data?
It means your data is stored exclusively in European data centres, governed by EU law. This ensures digital sovereignty, GDPR compliance, and protection from foreign data access requests, a priority for 81% of businesses.
Can I migrate to Impossible Cloud without changing my applications?
Yes. Impossible Cloud offers full S3 API compatibility. Your existing applications, scripts, and backup tools that use the S3 protocol will work without any code rewrites, ensuring a seamless migration.
How does Immutable Storage protect against ransomware?
Immutable Storage, using S3 Object Lock, prevents data from being altered or deleted for a specified period. This creates a tamper-proof copy of your backups, ensuring you can restore clean data even if your primary systems are compromised by a ransomware attack.
What benefits does Impossible Cloud offer to MSPs in the UK?
For UK MSPs, we offer predictable margins through our zero-fee model, a multi-tenant partner console for easy client management, full automation via API/CLI, and local distribution through our partner Northamber plc.
How does your model align with the EU Data Act?
The EU Data Act, effective September 2025, mandates data portability. Our use of open standards and a zero-fee model ensures there is no vendor lock-in, allowing you to move your data freely, which aligns perfectly with the spirit and letter of the regulation.
