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storage utilisation UK
Optimise UK Storage Utilisation by Eliminating Hidden Costs and Regulatory Risk
The UK data storage market will reach nearly £11 billion in 2025, with a projected 14.5% annual growth rate. Yet, 62% of UK firms already exceed their cloud budgets, often due to hidden fees that compromise effective storage utilisation. A sovereign storage model offers a clear path to control costs and meet modern compliance demands.
Key Takeaways
The UK data storage market is set for 14.5% annual growth, but 62% of businesses already exceed their cloud budgets due to hidden fees.
A sovereign, EU-based storage solution with no egress fees provides cost predictability and helps UK firms comply with EU and UK GDPR.
Immutable storage with Object Lock is a critical defence against ransomware, which affected an estimated 19,000 UK businesses in 2025.
UK businesses face a critical challenge in managing their data storage. Market growth is explosive, set to expand from £10.9 billion in 2025 to over £42.5 billion by 2035. This rapid expansion strains IT budgets, with unpredictable costs from egress fees and API calls causing major overruns. Simultaneously, the regulatory landscape demands greater control over data location and security. Optimising storage utilisation UK-wide requires a new approach—one that combines cost predictability, robust security, and digital sovereignty by design. This article outlines a strategy to achieve exactly that.
Secure UK Data with Guaranteed EU Sovereignty
Post-Brexit, UK businesses navigate a dual regulatory framework, complying with both UK and EU GDPR. Storing data with non-EU providers creates exposure to foreign laws like the CLOUD Act. A strong majority of EU decision-makers now demand European solutions for critical data. Our platform addresses this directly.
We operate exclusively in certified European data centers, offering country-level geofencing. This ensures your data remains in a predefined region under strict EU rules. This provides the legal certainty UK firms need to serve a European market. For sectors like financial services, this level of control is a core requirement. This strategy builds the foundation for compliant and efficient data management.
Eliminate Budget Overruns from Hidden Cloud Fees
Unpredictable costs are the primary barrier to effective storage utilisation. Almost half (49%) of a typical cloud storage bill is allocated to fees, not capacity. These charges, including egress and API call fees, caused 62% of UK firms to exceed their budgets. This model creates significant financial friction and vendor lock-in.
Our commercial model is predictable by design, with three key differences:
Zero egress fees
Zero API call costs
No minimum storage duration
This transparent approach allows for accurate storage cost analysis and planning. Over two-thirds of businesses are forced to cut other IT spending due to rising cloud costs. A predictable model frees up capital for innovation. This financial stability is the first step toward optimising your entire data infrastructure.
Build Resilient Defences Against Ransomware Threats
Ransomware attacks are a growing threat, impacting an estimated 19,000 UK businesses in 2025. The UK also accounted for 10% of major global cyber incidents over the past two years. Standard backups are not enough; criminals now target backup data to prevent recovery. Effective data protection requires immutability.
We provide Immutable Storage using S3 Object Lock technology. This feature makes your data unchangeable and undeletable for a specified period. It creates a secure copy of your data that is immune to ransomware encryption. This capability is a cornerstone of modern storage capacity planning and disaster recovery. It ensures you can restore operations quickly after an attack. This resilience prepares you for the next wave of security challenges.
Maximise Uptime with an Always-Hot Architecture
Many cloud providers use complex storage tiers to manage costs, but this creates operational risk. Restoring data from archival tiers can cause significant delays and unexpected fees. These fragile policies often fail during urgent recovery scenarios, impacting business continuity for thousands of firms. This complexity hinders true data accessibility.
Our platform utilises an “Always-Hot” object storage model. All data is immediately accessible without any tier-restore delays or fees. This approach reduces operational complexity and ensures third-party tools remain stable. It eliminates surprises during critical restores, a common issue with legacy storage tiering strategies. This architectural simplicity provides the consistency needed for modern workloads.
Future-Proof Compliance for the EU Data Act
The EU Data Act will be enforced from September 2025, impacting UK businesses serving EU customers. The regulation mandates data portability and interoperability to reduce vendor lock-in. Companies must be able to prove a real exit path for their data, including metadata and versions. This requires a storage platform built on open standards.
Our solution is designed for this new regulatory environment. We offer full S3-API compatibility, ensuring your existing tools and scripts continue to work without rewrites. This protects past investments and minimises migration risk. You can perform a cloud spend optimisation without being trapped by proprietary technology. This readiness for upcoming regulations gives your business a competitive advantage.
Strengthen Supply Chains with NIS-2 Readiness
The NIS-2 Directive extends cybersecurity obligations to the entire supply chain. UK businesses providing services to critical sectors in the EU must demonstrate robust security processes. This includes continuous documentation, vulnerability management, and incident reporting. Your storage provider plays a key role in this compliance.
Our platform's security features help you meet these stringent requirements. We provide:
Multi-layer encryption for data in transit and at rest.
Identity and Access Management (IAM) with MFA and RBAC.
An architecture that eliminates single points of failure.
Verified compliance with key EU certifications.
These capabilities provide the supply-chain assurance your EU partners now demand. This focus on security prepares your organisation for deeper market integration.
Empower UK Channel Partners with Predictable Margins
Take Control of Your Storage Strategy
Optimising storage utilisation UK-wide is achievable with the right strategy and partner. Moving away from unpredictable pricing models is the first step. Embracing a sovereign-by-design architecture prepares you for the next decade of data regulation. It is time to align your storage with your business goals.
A platform built on S3 compatibility ensures a seamless transition without costly code rewrites. By focusing on resilience, compliance, and cost control, you can turn your data storage from a cost centre into a strategic asset. Start by assessing your current provider's fee structure and data governance policies. Talk to an expert to see how a predictable, sovereign alternative can work for you.
More Links
UK government provides the official UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation.
Wikipedia offers a general overview of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) publishes documents concerning cloud-based services for the public sector.
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) provides the EU Cloud Code of Conduct document.
The UK government outlines its National Data Strategy in this publication.
Deloitte shares its perspective on navigating cloud costs and their carbon impact.
KPMG offers insights into the oversight of cybersecurity and data governance.
FAQ
What does 'sovereign by design' mean for cloud storage?
Sovereign by design means the storage platform is architected from the ground up to ensure data is subject only to the laws of a specific jurisdiction. For Impossible Cloud, this means using only European data centers and operating under EU governance, protecting UK clients from foreign laws like the US CLOUD Act.
How does a 'no egress fee' model benefit my business?
A model with no egress fees provides complete cost predictability. You can access or move your data as often as needed without incurring extra charges, which eliminates budget overruns and avoids vendor lock-in. This is especially valuable for backup, disaster recovery, and hybrid cloud workloads.
Is your platform compatible with my existing backup tools?
Yes. We offer full S3-API compatibility, which means our platform works out-of-the-box with leading backup and recovery tools, applications, and scripts that you already use. This ensures a seamless migration and protects your existing technology investments.
How does your storage help with EU Data Act compliance?
The EU Data Act, effective from September 2025, requires data portability. Our platform's S3 compatibility and foundation on open standards ensure you can easily move your data to another provider at any time, fulfilling the law's requirements to prevent vendor lock-in.
What is the 'Always-Hot' storage model?
The 'Always-Hot' model means all your data is instantly accessible at all times, with no delays or extra fees for retrieval from different tiers. This simplifies operations, makes restores faster and more reliable, and eliminates the surprise costs associated with complex storage tiering.
How can UK MSPs partner with Impossible Cloud?
UK MSPs and resellers can work with our distributor, Northamber plc. Our partner program offers predictable margins due to our zero-fee structure, a multi-tenant management console, and full automation via API/CLI to simplify operations for your clients.
