Data Act 2027: preparing to switch cloud providers

01

Facts: what changes on 12 January 2027?

The Data Act, Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, has applied since 12 September 2025. Chapter VI establishes rules that facilitate switching between providers of data-processing services and the simultaneous use of several services. The European Commission explains that this includes cloud and edge services providing network access to infrastructure, computing resources or software.

A transition period runs until 12 January 2027, during which a provider may still charge the customer for costs incurred in relation to switching and data egress. From that date, charges for operations necessary to facilitate switching and for data egress must be removed entirely.

This article was checked on 1 October 2026. It provides general operational information, not individual legal advice. The obligations in a specific relationship depend on the service, architecture, contract and the parties’ roles; disputed clauses should be reviewed by a lawyer experienced in technology contracts.

02

Facts: the Data Act is not limited to IaaS infrastructure

The Commission explains that Chapter VI covers data-processing services providing on-demand network access to scalable resources such as networks, servers, physical or virtual infrastructure and software. An assessment should therefore extend beyond servers and storage to platforms and SaaS products that meet the Regulation’s definition.

For Platform and Software as a Service, the Commission identifies open interfaces and, at a minimum, export in a commonly used, machine-readable format. For IaaS, the focus is on measures facilitating functional equivalence for shared features when the customer switches to a service of the same type.

Exportable data that is key to switching includes input and output data and related metadata generated by the customer’s use of the service. It does not automatically include information protected by intellectual-property rights or constituting the provider’s trade secrets.

03

Facts: no switching charge does not mean a free migration

The removal concerns charges levied by the source provider for operations necessary to facilitate switching and for data egress. It does not remove costs incurred by the customer for discovery, the destination environment, licences for the new solution, configuration migration, integration changes, testing, training or running two services during the transition.

This distinction matters for budgeting. A contract may provide an export, but the business still needs to know whether it contains complete records, relationships, attachments, change history, permissions and metadata required to recreate the process. A machine-readable format does not guarantee an automatic import into a competitor’s product.

The removal of specified provider charges is a legal fact. The business recommendation is to calculate separately the source-provider exit cost, the technical migration cost and the operational-interruption risk.

04

WEBee recommendation: build a service and dependency register

An exit plan cannot be prepared for a system whose dependencies are unknown. Start with services supporting sales, finance, documents, customers, warehouse, transport, reporting and identity. For each, record the business owner, administrator, supplier, contract, data, integrations and the impact of unavailability.

Prioritise critical solutions with long notice periods, custom integrations or large data volumes. Services where information can only be accessed through the user interface or a manually generated report deserve particular attention.

• service name, IaaS/PaaS/SaaS model and business owner;
• data categories and volume, attachments, logs and metadata;
• APIs, webhooks, files, connectors and dependent systems;
• technical accounts, roles, SSO and authentication;
• contract term, notice, retention and deletion procedure;
• RTO, RPO, tolerated interruption and continuity plan.

05

WEBee recommendation: review the contract and export package

The Commission has published voluntary standard contractual clauses translating Chapter VI into provisions on switching and exit, termination, security and business continuity. They do not replace a review of the specific contract, but they can serve as a checklist when procuring or renegotiating a service.

Ask the supplier to describe the exit procedure before signing or renewing. The response should identify data scope, formats, interfaces, preparation time, limits, support, transfer security, download window and confirmation that remaining copies are deleted in line with the contract and applicable retention rules.

• which data, metadata, attachments and configuration the customer receives;
• whether export is self-service and available through an API;
• format, schema documentation, dictionaries and identifiers;
• changes made while the transition is underway;
• completeness controls, checksums and operation logs;
• switching support, responsibility and escalation;
• access closure and secure deletion deadlines.

06

WEBee recommendation: test an export before contract expiry

The strongest evidence of portability is not a statement in a proposal but the recreation of a representative process using test data. Select a limited scope, perform an export and verify whether records, attachments, users, statuses and change history can be connected without manual guesswork.

The test does not need to signal a decision to leave. It may reveal missing documentation, dependence on one administrator, an incomplete API or an unacceptable recovery time. Use the findings in supplier discussions and business-continuity planning.

• 1. Select a critical process and representative data sample;
• 2. Request the export through the documented procedure;
• 3. Check completeness, formats, relationships and metadata readability;
• 4. Recreate the process or report in a test environment;
• 5. Test integrations, roles, security and fallback operation;
• 6. Record time, cost, defects and owners of corrective actions.