Anyone who wants to change their cloud provider rarely fails because of the will, but because of the costs and effort. The EU Data Act aims to change that. From 12 January 2027, providers of cloud and other data processing services may no longer charge for switching. That sounds like the end of the lock-in. What the rule actually covers, where it stops and what companies should do now, this post ranks.
What the Data Act regulates when changing providers
The Data Act, Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, applies from 12 September 2025. A separate chapter deals with the switching between data processing services. This refers to cloud infrastructure, platform services and SaaS applications alike. The rules apply not only to new contracts, but also to existing ones.
The core: A customer can announce the change with a maximum period of two months. After this, a transition phase of usually 30 days begins, in which the previous provider must support the move and continue to provide the service. If this is not technically feasible, the provider can extend the phase to up to seven months. After completion, the data must remain available for at least 30 days, after which they must be deleted.
A phased plan of costs shall apply. Since January 2024, providers are only allowed to calculate the actual, directly associated costs for a change. From 12 January 2027, exchange fees will be completely eliminated. This explicitly includes the fees for data transfer from the cloud, the so-called Egress costs, as far as they are incurred for the change.
What the Rule Does Not Do
Anyone who concludes that a change will be free from 2027 is mistaken. The Data Act prohibits the old provider from cashing for the extract. However, the actual costs of a change arise elsewhere.
The large hyperscalers have already waived their Egress fees for a complete change in 2024, partly with application and deadlines. For customers of AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, less changes on the deadline than the headline suggests. The rule is more noticeable for smaller providers, hosters and SaaS services, whose contracts previously provided for export fees or paid data extracts.
Excluded is also the parallel use of several providers. Those who permanently exchange data between two clouds continue to pay for the data transfer, even if only at cost prices. And for individually developed services that are not generally offered on the market, attenuated obligations apply.
Above all, however, the Data Act regulates the data export, not the rebuilding. The provider must publish data and digital assets in a structured, common and machine-readable format. Whether the target system can do something with it is another question. A database dump from a proprietary service, an export from a SaaS application with its own data structure or workflows that only exist in the platform of the old provider must be rebuilt. This effort remains with the customer.
The Data Act reduces exit costs. He does not reduce the moving costs. They are created during mapping, testing and rebuilding what only existed with the old provider.
When a change is worthwhile now
For most companies, the deadline is not an opportunity to change providers immediately. But it is a good reason to examine your own dependence soberly. Three situations actually make a change interesting.
The first is contracts with export fees or lack of export opportunities. If you are stuck with a smaller hoster or SaaS provider because the data extract was previously expensive or only possible as a PDF report, you will have a much better negotiating position from 2027.
The second is an upcoming realignment. If a system change is imminent anyway, for example because an application is replaced or servers run from support, the question of the right provider can be clarified immediately. The Data Act takes a cost item out of the bill.
The third is data sovereignty. Especially with AI applications that work on internal documents, many companies want to control more precisely where their data is located. Switching to a European provider or back to your own infrastructure is made easier by the new rules, because the Data Act explicitly covers the switch to your own data center.
What you should prepare now
Even those who do not want to change benefits from an inventory. For each essential cloud or SaaS service, three questions should be answered: What data is there, in what format can it be exported, and what else depends on the service besides the data, such as workflows, permissions, integrations or evaluations?
A trial export is more informative than any contract study. Many companies only realize that the export is complete, but the relationships between the data are lost or attachments are missing. Who knows, can clarify it with the provider, as long as there is no time pressure.
It also makes sense to look at the Treaties. Since September 2025, cloud contracts have to reflect the exchange rights of the Data Act, including notice periods, support obligations when moving and a description of the exportable data. If this information is missing, this is an indication that the provider has not yet adjusted his contracts, and a good reason for a conversation.
For the change itself, what applies to every migration. Export is the smaller part of the work. Mapping, cleanup, trial migration on the full stock and a plan for the way back decide whether the move succeeds. On our side to the Data Migration let us describe how we do this.
Conclusion
12 January 2027 ends the exchange fees, not the exchange expense. For customers of large hyperscalers, little changes, for customers of smaller providers and SaaS services under certain circumstances a lot. The greatest benefit is who takes the deadline as an opportunity to check their own dependence and actually test the export routes. If you are evaluating or planning a change of provider, we will support you in the Cloud Migration from stocktaking to relocation. Talk to us.
Additional sources
- Federal Network Agency – Data processing services and change of provider
- EUR-Lex – Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 (Data Act)
Note: This article reflects the status of 19 October 2026 and serves for general information. It does not replace legal advice; how the rules apply to a specific contract should be examined on a case-by-case basis.
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