A growing number of UK IT decision-makers are preparing to scale back their reliance on US-based cloud providers, as concerns over data sovereignty and residency intensify.

A new whitepaper commissioned by Asanti, titled Public Cloud: Does the reality live up to the hype? reveals that 52% of UK organisations currently using public or hybrid cloud models are now taking deliberate steps to reduce their exposure to US platforms.

For many, this shift is rooted in geopolitical unease. Ninety-five percent of respondents cited data sovereignty as a key concern, while 93% pointed to data residency. Meanwhile, nearly half (45%) of those using US public cloud platforms said they now plan to actively limit the extent to which their data falls under US jurisdiction.

The research, carried out in June 2025 by Vanson Bourne, surveyed 100 senior IT decision-makers across the UK. The cohort included 30 Board-level or C-suite executives and 70 senior managers from sectors spanning public services, including healthcare, as well as financial services, professional services, IT, and the technology and telecoms industries. All respondents worked at organisations with over 250 employees and annual revenues exceeding £5.1 million.

“Organisations are becoming more aware and more wary of where their data is stored and who has jurisdiction over it,” said Stewart Laing, CEO of Asanti. “It’s no longer just about performance or cost. It’s about trust, control and strategic sovereignty.”

This isn’t a new concern, but rather a growing one. The findings build on earlier research conducted by Asanti in October 2024, which showed that 91% of organisations were already in the process of bringing at least some applications back on-premise or into colocation environments – a trend often referred to as cloud repatriation.

At the time, companies cited several drivers for this move away from public cloud, including high recurring costs for certain workloads (41%), limited control and customisation (39%), and slow data transfers affecting real-time applications (36%). Security, compliance and risk management were also frequently mentioned, with 39% identifying these as motivating factors.

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However, the path away from public cloud is not without friction. Respondents highlighted several barriers that complicate efforts to repatriate applications. The most commonly cited issue was a lack of internal skills (41%), followed by the complexity of moving applications back to internal systems (38%), and inflexible contracts or cloud vendor lock-in (36%).

“Cloud is powerful – but not perfect. The lesson here is that infrastructure strategy needs to be driven by business needs, not vendor hype,” he said,” Laing added.

“We strongly advise UK organisations to revisit their current and future hosting strategies with a more critical eye, especially as AI workloads, regulatory scrutiny, and cyber threats escalate.”