Five questions to ask before you renew a cloud contract

A renewal is the best moment to find out what leaving your cloud provider would really cost. From 12 January 2027, the EU Data Act ends switching charges for customers in the EU, including the egress fees for moving data out as part of a switch (what changes, and what doesn’t).

That helps, but the fee was never the biggest part of the cost. These five questions are worth asking before you sign again.

1. What does our provider treat as switching?

Which services, data and steps fall under it, and how will the provider handle a switch request after January?

It is also worth checking whether any of your services were custom-built for you. Services where most of the main features were built for one customer, and that aren’t offered at broad commercial scale, are exempt from the end of switching charges. The provider has to tell you before you sign.

2. What notice do we have to give, and what happens during the move?

The Data Act caps the notice period for starting a switch at two months, and has done since 12 September 2025. As a rule, the switch itself then has to be completed within 30 calendar days, while the provider keeps the service running. Compare that with what your contract says today.

3. In what formats can we export our data and configuration?

A cheap exit you can’t use isn’t an exit. Ask which formats your data, configuration and other digital assets come out in, and whether the service you would move to can read them.

4. What will we still pay?

Ordinary egress outside a switch, egress for using several providers in parallel (which can still be charged at cost), service fees until the switch is done, and any early termination penalties in the contract.

5. What would leaving actually cost us?

Data volumes by service, the effort to move each workload, and where those workloads and their data run today.

This is the question most teams can’t answer quickly. It needs cost by provider, service and workload, and a clear view of where data sits, which is the same evidence you would want for a residency review or a supplier-concentration question from the board.

Sources

• Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 (Data Act): Article 25(2) for notice and the transition period; Article 29 for the withdrawal of switching charges; Article 31 for custom-built services; Article 34 for parallel use.

This article explains the regulation in general terms. It isn’t legal advice; check how it applies to your contracts with your own counsel.