European alternative to AWS: how a SaaS scale-up builds a resilient cloud strategy

• A European alternative to AWS or Azure is only sovereign if you stay in control: you can leave, nobody else can shut off your service and the provider cannot simply reach your data.
• Where the servers are and who owns the provider count. How the service is built weighs more: where does the management environment run and who manages the encryption keys?
• You do not have to choose all or nothing. In a resilient cloud strategy you spread workloads deliberately, and AWS or Azure and a local alternative can run side by side. First map out what you depend on.
• Put export terms, exit costs and price agreements in the contract before you sign.

A SaaS scale-up that wants to reduce its dependence on AWS or Azure usually has two concerns: predictable costs and the question of who can access its customers’ data. You can calculate the first one well. The second gets vague fast, because almost every provider now calls itself European or sovereign.

This article helps you test those claims. It is meant for SaaS companies that run on a hyperscaler and are considering a European alternative, for part of their environment or all of it.

A data center in Germany, France or the Netherlands says little about who can access your data. For that you look at three layers: where the data is, who owns the provider and how the service is built.

The third layer weighs the most. The American CLOUD Act can require providers that fall under US law to hand over data they own, manage or control, even if that data is outside the US. If you manage the encryption keys and no third party’s management environment sits in between, the provider can technically hand over little of use. If the management platform or key management falls under US law, that law can still reach your data, wherever the servers are. That does not have to be a problem, as long as you weigh it consciously.

Ownership remains relevant, as one of the layers. A European owner is no guarantee: a European company with offices outside the EU can also face foreign courts. So look at the whole structure, including subsidiaries.

Where your data lives and who owns the provider therefore tell you only part of the story. The architecture and your ability to leave determine whether you stay in control.

Hyperscalers offer many convenient managed services: databases, identity management, key management (KMS), queues and monitoring. They let you build fast, but they also determine how easily you can move later. The more of those services you use, the higher your exit costs, because you have to replace them or manage them yourself when you switch.

Then there are egress costs: what you pay to get your own data out. For a SaaS company with terabytes of customer data, that can be a sizable item.

So first map out your own situation. What data do you have, which part is sensitive, which managed services do you use and what does it cost to leave them? With that overview you can see which workloads you can move, which you are better off leaving where they are and which questions to ask a new provider.

Ask these questions of every provider you consider, and of your current hyperscaler too. That shows you what you gain and what you give up. The checklist is tailored to a move from AWS or Azure. You can find a general version for any cloud provider in Sovereign cloud: what to really check before you move your data anywhere.

Do you stay in control?

1. Can you export your data and configuration completely in a usable format, without a support ticket or negotiation?
2. What does leaving cost? Think of egress costs, minimum terms and penalties.
3. Where does the management environment of your infrastructure run: at the provider itself or at a third party?
4. Who manages the encryption keys, and where are they generated and stored? Can you use your own keys?
5. Can anyone else shut off your service, for example through a license check or an external dependency? What happens if that connection drops?

What does the contract say?

1. Is the price fixed for the term, or can it change in between?
2. What is the uptime guarantee in the SLA, and what compensation do you get if it is not met?
3. Which subprocessors and subcontractors does the provider use, including for backups and monitoring? Are any parties outside the EU involved?
4. What does the data processing agreement say about government requests for access to data?

Who is behind it, and how do they work?

1. Which legal entity signs the contract with you, and where is it based?
2. Who owns the company, and has that changed in recent years? Does the provider have subsidiaries outside the EU?
3. Is support in house or outsourced? Test the response time yourself, before you need it in an emergency.
4. Can you speak to a reference customer, preferably a SaaS company of similar size?

A provider that answers these questions in writing and without detours gives you more to go on than a claim on a web page.

There is no European provider that is the best choice for every scale-up. Which one fits depends on what the checklist shows: how many managed services you have to replace, how sensitive your data is and how much control you want to keep yourself.

Often the answer is a combination. Workloads that are predictable and over which you want control yourself fit well with a local provider. Services that you deliberately buy from a hyperscaler can stay there.

So start with your own overview of data and dependencies, and hold each candidate up against it. A comparison table of brands only makes sense once you know what you are comparing on.

Worldstream is a flexible, transparent and local alternative that fits within a resilient cloud strategy. We are a Dutch company with our own data centers in Naaldwijk and our own network, and who owns us is public. You work with fixed monthly prices, based on what you agree with us. So you know what you pay for and there are no surprises on the invoice. Our engineers are on site 24/7 in our own data centers, and the average support response time is 7 minutes.

Start with the workloads where control and predictable costs matter most, and expand when it fits. Want to know what that means for your environment? Get in touch, and we will go through the checklist with you.