Cloud data can be easier to store near computing than it once was, but that does not mean it is easy or cheap to move. Retrieval and transfer charges, software licensing terms, and dependencies on cloud and AI services can all make switching providers harder. Jon Brooks of cloud-storage provider Wasabi describes this shift as a “new data gravity”; it is a useful way to frame the risk, not a settled conclusion that applies equally to every organization.
What “data gravity” means—and what is changing
Data gravity is the idea that data attracts the applications, infrastructure, and services that use it. Digital Realty, a data-center operator, defines it as an attractive force caused by enterprise data creation and exchange, drawing applications, servers, and other data. Its explanation also emphasizes that a dataset’s operational importance—not just its size—can make it difficult to relocate or replicate.
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In the traditional account, moving a large dataset was itself a major obstacle: the data had to be transferred and then made useful elsewhere. Brooks’s argument in an ITPro article published on 23 September 2026 is that physical scale is no longer the only, or necessarily the dominant, source of friction. Cloud services can place storage and computing close together, but fees, service complexity, and dependencies on provider tools may still make access and switching difficult. That is Brooks’s industry perspective; it should not be read as proof that infrastructure or transfer time have stopped mattering.
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How fees can make stored data costly to use or move
A storage price alone does not show the cost of keeping data in a cloud service. Depending on the provider and service, buyers may also need to account for retrieval, transfer, storage tiers, software licenses, and the operational work of managing the environment. Fees can matter both when data is actively used and when an organization tries to move it.
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Wasabi’s 2026 Cloud Storage Index figures, as reported by Brooks’s article, illustrate the concern but are not universal benchmarks. The linked report landing page did not provide detailed methodology in the material reviewed, so the figures should be treated as the index’s reported findings rather than independently validated market-wide estimates.
| Reported figure | Scope and meaning | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| 48% | Share of UK businesses’ cloud spend reportedly spent on fees rather than storage itself | Wasabi’s 2026 Cloud Storage Index, as reported in Brooks’s article; not a universal spending benchmark |
| Nearly half | Organizations reportedly overspending on cloud | Wasabi’s 2026 index, as reported in the article; the article does not specify the sample geography for this figure |
| 84% | Organizations reportedly naming fees as a key driver of cloud overspend | Wasabi’s 2026 index, as reported in the article; detailed methodology was not available on its linked landing page |
These figures point to questions worth asking in a procurement review, not a prediction of what a particular organization will pay. Check which actions trigger charges, whether fees vary by access tier or destination, and what the full exit process costs. A low headline storage rate can be a poor guide if retrieval, licensing, or migration costs dominate the expected use.
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How software terms and AI services can add switching friction
Licensing and provider choice
Cloud lock-in can arise from contracts as well as technology. In a review of six selected federal agencies, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that five reported restrictive software licensing impacts. Examples included having to repurchase existing licenses for cloud use, paying extra to use software on another provider’s infrastructure, and practices that limited provider or architecture choice. The sample was explicitly nongeneralizable, and reported costs were often not quantified: these are documented cases, not an estimate of how common the problems are across the market.
GAO’s separate review of private-sector cloud practices describes the risk as varying by provider and service. Companies cited multi-cloud planning, containers, interoperability, data portability, and application compatibility as ways to retain flexibility and avoid artificially increased costs. Those approaches can help, but they also require design choices and operational work; using multiple providers does not by itself guarantee an easy exit.
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AI partnerships and dependencies
AI workloads can deepen dependence when a business builds around a particular cloud’s infrastructure, model, APIs, or bundled services. The Federal Trade Commission’s January 2025 staff report announcement discussed specific partnerships between major cloud providers and AI developers. It identified potential risks such as partner-cloud spending commitments and increased contractual or technical switching costs for AI developers. The FTC presented these as potential competition concerns, not as a finding that every cloud–AI partnership creates lock-in.
At the time of that announcement, FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said: “As companies rapidly deploy generative AI technologies, enforcers and policymakers must stay vigilant to guard against business strategies that undermine open markets, opportunity, and innovation.” The statement captures the policy concern; it does not establish that a particular AI deployment is difficult to move. That depends on the contract, data and model interfaces, and how much application logic relies on provider-specific services.
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What the EU Data Act changes—and when
The EU Data Act has applied since 12 September 2025. For covered data-processing services, the European Commission says providers must facilitate switching. Its explainer describes open interfaces and machine-readable exports for SaaS and PaaS services, and measures toward functional equivalence for comparable IaaS services. These obligations have an EU scope; they are not a worldwide rule.
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|---|---|
| Since 12 September 2025 | The Data Act applies, including switching-facilitation requirements for covered services |
| Before 12 January 2027 | During the transition, providers may still charge costs related to switching and data egress |
| From 12 January 2027 | The complete prohibition on switching charges, including data-egress charges, begins for covered services |
The Act does not make every migration effortless: technical compatibility, application redesign, timing, and the work of validating exported data still matter. Buyers should check whether the service and their circumstances fall within the Act’s coverage rather than assuming the same terms apply to every provider or jurisdiction.
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- Subscription-Free Personal Cloud – Store, back up, and manage all your videos, music, and photos and access them anytime without paying any monthly fees.
- Storage Purpose-Built for Data Security – A NAS designed to keep your data safe, the LS200 features a closed system to reduce vulnerabilities from 3rd party apps and SSL encryption for secure file transfers.
- Back Up Multiple Computers & Devices – NAS Navigator management utility and PC backup software included. NAS Navigator 2 for macOS 15 and earlier. You can set up automated backups of data on your computers.
How to assess portability before committing
Portability is not just the ability to download a file. It includes whether data can be exported in a usable format, whether interfaces are documented, how long a transfer takes, whether applications can operate elsewhere, and what the contract permits or charges. Ask vendors to demonstrate a complete export and explain the exit process in writing before a workload becomes dependent on the service.
- Model total cost over expected use. Include storage, retrieval, transfer, tiers, licenses, and the operational effort needed to run the service. Ask which charges recur and which arise only during a move or a particular access pattern.
- Test the exit mechanics. Request a sample export in the formats you would need, the relevant APIs or interfaces, a realistic transfer timeline, and confirmation of when and how source data can be deleted.
- Map provider-specific dependencies. List proprietary APIs, models, managed services, and bundled software that an application relies on. For each, identify what would need to change if the workload moved.
- Review contractual constraints. Check license portability, partner or spending commitments, egress and switching charges, notice periods, and any limits on using another provider.
- Compare operational options. Consider whether hybrid or multi-provider deployment is workable for the specific workload, including the added complexity of operating across environments. Treat multi-cloud as a design choice, not a guarantee of portability.
A useful comparison weighs total cost, export and exit terms, technical dependencies, and the effort of operating elsewhere together. A provider comparison cannot be reduced to one advertised storage rate, and the evidence here does not establish a winning provider. Because the article’s author is a Wasabi executive, its framing and the Wasabi index figures should be read with that affiliation in mind.
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