The EU Data Act took effect on September 12, 2025, introducing sweeping changes to how organizations handle data across Europe. Whether you’re scrambling to understand the basics or rethinking your entire data strategy, this regulation will reshape how business data flows between platforms, providers, and partners.
What the EU Data Act actually does
The Data Act establishes new rules for data access, cloud switching, and interoperability across the EU. It applies to any company operating connected products or cloud services in Europe, regardless of where they’re based.
The regulation tackles several key areas. Users gain new rights to access data generated by their connected devices and share it with third parties. Public sector bodies can access private sector data during emergencies like floods or wildfires. Most significantly for business operations, the Act eliminates unfair contractual terms in data sharing agreements and phases out cloud switching charges entirely by January 2027.
For cloud services specifically, the changes are substantial. Providers must offer seamless switching between platforms, maintain transparent registries of their data structures, and ensure compatibility with open standards. The days of proprietary lock-in strategies are numbered, at least in European markets.
The strategic implications
The traditional approach of accepting vendor dependencies in exchange for convenience is becoming a regulatory liability.
Your current data strategy likely assumes that switching costs and integration complexity will remain constant. The Data Act changes that calculation. By 2027, moving between cloud providers must be free and technically straightforward. This creates new possibilities for multi-cloud strategies, vendor negotiations, and infrastructure flexibility.
The regulation also emphasizes data portability and interoperability as core requirements rather than nice-to-have features. Organizations that have built their systems around open standards and self-hosted solutions will find compliance easier than those dependent on proprietary platforms.
Building a Data Act-ready strategy
Compliance starts with understanding your current data dependencies. Map where your business data lives, how it’s formatted, and what it would take to move it. Many organizations discover they have less control than they assumed.
Review your existing contracts with cloud providers and software vendors. The Data Act prohibits many common contractual terms that limit data portability or impose unreasonable switching barriers. New contracts must meet fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory standards.
Consider your product roadmap if you develop connected devices or digital services. Products launched after September 2026 must be designed with data sharing capabilities built in.
The hybrid solution advantage
The regulatory landscape increasingly favors organizations that maintain control over their data while preserving operational efficiency. This is where hybrid approaches become strategically valuable.
Consider maintaining familiar productivity tools while hosting core data on platforms you control. With Sendent, teams can continue using Microsoft applications for collaboration while ensuring that data remains on self-hosted Nextcloud infrastructure that meets Data Act requirements.
This approach addresses multiple challenges simultaneously. You maintain workflow continuity, achieve regulatory compliance, and build resilience against future platform changes or pricing adjustments.
