Cloud Computing Watch · November 5, 2026
Cloud Lock-In Deepens as 89% of Businesses Cannot Move Critical Workloads Within Three Weeks, Leaseweb Research Finds — data portability is not workload portability, AI is expected to tighten dependence, and enterprises say they would pay more for real exit options.
Nearly nine in ten businesses cannot migrate business-critical workloads away from their largest cloud or infrastructure provider within three weeks, according to Leaseweb’s Digital Independence Survey 2026 — even as most executives report high confidence in their ability to move data.
The survey, conducted by research firm Censuswide among 800 C-suite leaders at organizations with 500 to 5,000 employees in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands between September 22 and 30, 2026, underscores a widening gap between perceived control and practical exit capability.
Only 11% of respondents said they could complete such a migration within three weeks. More than half — 55% — said moving critical workloads would take longer than three months, or was not currently possible at all.
The Control Illusion: Data Portability vs Workload Portability
A central finding is the disconnect between data mobility and application mobility. Some 76% of leaders reported complete or high control over their ability to move data to another provider or environment. Yet the same sample produced the 11% figure for rapid workload migration.
That distinction matters. Exporting objects or databases is not the same as reconstituting production applications, integrations, identity models, managed services and operational runbooks on another platform. Leaseweb’s research frames the result as evidence that many organizations overestimate how portable their critical systems really are.
“Digital independence comes down to having real choices, and our research shows many businesses have fewer than they think,” said Lex Boost, co-CEO at Leaseweb. “Organizations may believe they control their data, but once applications have been built around a provider’s platform, moving them is rarely quick or simple. With AI expected to tie businesses even more closely to a small number of providers, leaders need to understand and act on those dependencies now, not when a pricing change or geopolitical shift forces their hand.”
Regional Differences in Migration Friction
Expected migration times varied across the four markets. The Netherlands recorded the highest share of businesses expecting a move to take more than three months, at 65%, and the longest average estimated migration time, at 4.7 months. The UK followed at 59%, the US at 55%, and Germany at 40% — still a substantial minority facing multi-quarter or infeasible exits.
The pattern suggests that lock-in is not confined to a single regulatory or market environment. Even in Germany, where the share expecting long migrations was lowest, four in ten leaders still anticipate a process stretching beyond a quarter of a year.
AI Expected to Increase Provider Dependence
Looking ahead, 79% of respondents overall expect artificial intelligence to increase their reliance on a small number of providers over the next three years. The figure was highest in the United States (89%), followed by the UK (83%), Germany (76%) and the Netherlands (67%).
AI-related technology and provider dependence was the most frequently selected potential barrier to digital independence overall (28%). In Germany, legacy-system complexity ranked first (30%). The survey does not claim that AI adoption is inherently anti-competitive; it does indicate that executives expect concentration effects as models, platforms and managed AI services deepen platform-specific dependencies.
Geopolitics Is Already Changing Infrastructure Strategy
Geopolitical pressure is not only a talking point. Over three-quarters of respondents — 78% — said they have already taken action to reduce reliance on a particular technology or infrastructure provider in response to geopolitical challenges. That share rose to 91% in the US and 87% in the UK. Forty-five percent of respondents overall said they plan to take this further.
The combination is notable: many organizations are actively trying to reduce concentration risk, yet a majority still cannot move critical workloads quickly. Strategy intent and operational flexibility are not the same.
Willingness to Pay for Independence
Enterprises are attaching a price to control. Almost all respondents said they would pay more to gain greater control, reduce provider dependence, or improve freedom to move. Seventy-three percent would pay at least 11% more, with an average premium of approximately 16%. Willingness was highest in the Netherlands (81% would pay at least 11% more; 26% at least 21% more) and Germany (79% at least 11% more).
That willingness sits alongside softer standards on some traditional non-negotiables. Fewer than three in ten treated regulatory and legal compliance (28%) or security and data protection (28%) as non-negotiable when choosing a cloud provider; two-thirds (67%) said they would accept at least a minor trade-off on compliance. Leading “non-negotiable” factors differed by country: availability and uptime in the US (35%), provider reputation and trust in the UK (34%), security and data protection in Germany (30%), and a tie in the Netherlands between regulatory/legal compliance and exposure to geopolitical or trade-related risks (both 27%).
What the Findings Mean for Enterprise Cloud Decisions
For enterprise IT and board-level technology committees, the Leaseweb results sharpen several practical questions. First, exit planning should be tested against workloads, not only data-export checklists. Second, AI roadmaps that deepen platform-specific services may improve capability while reducing optionality — a trade-off that should be explicit. Third, geopolitical diversification strategies need executable migration paths; otherwise they remain policy statements.
The research does not prescribe a single architecture. Hybrid designs, multi-cloud patterns, portable application platforms, and sovereign or alternative providers are all part of the industry response set. What the survey measures is the current gap between confidence and capability among mid-market and upper mid-market organizations in four major economies.
Leaseweb, a Netherlands-founded IaaS and cloud infrastructure provider, published the findings as part of its broader positioning around digital independence and hybrid or sovereign infrastructure options. The CODEW’s coverage treats the survey as primary source material on executive perceptions and self-reported migration readiness; deeper analysis of hyperscaler economics, migration cost models and alternative-provider strategies is reserved for separate Cloud Computing Watch treatment.
Survey snapshot
• 89% cannot migrate critical workloads from the largest provider within three weeks
• 55% need more than three months, or cannot migrate
• 76% report high/complete data-move control — vs 11% rapid workload exit
• 79% expect AI to increase reliance on a small number of providers (3 years)
• 78% have already acted to reduce provider dependence for geopolitical reasons
• 73% would pay at least 11% more for greater control (avg. premium ~16%)
Sources & methodology
Leaseweb Digital Independence Survey 2026; research by Censuswide among 800 C-suite leaders (200 each in UK, US, Germany, Netherlands), organizations with 500–5,000 employees, September 22–30, 2026. Figures and Lex Boost quotation from Leaseweb’s public announcement. Leaseweb is a commercial cloud/IaaS provider; survey results should be read in that context.
Related CODEW coverage
Cloud Computing Watch · Enterprise AI Intelligence · AI Infrastructure Watch · The Newsroom
Editorial Note
Cloud Computing Watch examines the economics and infrastructure of cloud computing as AI workloads reshape hyperscaler investment, data-center capacity, cloud platforms, and enterprise consumption. It covers the companies, infrastructure investments, market developments, and strategic shifts shaping the global cloud computing industry.
As a specialized industry coverage desk within The CODEW Intelligence, Cloud Computing Watch tracks the evolution of cloud infrastructure, the competitive landscape among cloud providers, and the growing intersection of cloud computing and AI.
Editorial Note: Coverage is intended for informational and educational purposes. It does not constitute investment or procurement advice. Survey statistics are attributed to their respective research providers, including Leaseweb / Censuswide, where applicable.
THE CODEW · Cloud Computing Watch · November 5, 2026
Reviewed by Erwin Castro
on
Thursday, November 05, 2026
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