We live in an age where digital solutions permeate every aspect of business and society. Cloud services, SaaS applications, and third-party vendors drive innovation and efficiency at a pace that seemed unthinkable just a few years ago. The convenience of subscribing to functionalities and scaling resources on demand is undeniable. But in this rapid digitalization, there’s an often overlooked downside: dependency.

It’s easy to get carried away by the pace of innovation and quickly adopt new tools, but have we paused to consider what it means to tie our business’s critical processes, and perhaps most importantly, our data, to external platforms? Have we considered the way out?

Concepts like digital control, digital sovereignty, and data sovereignty are no longer academic buzzwords. They are business-critical realities.

• Digital Control: Refers to an organization’s ability to govern its own digital infrastructure, processes, and choices. It’s about having insight into and influence over the systems you rely on.
• Digital Sovereignty: Broadens the perspective. It’s about the ability to make one’s own strategic decisions in the digital domain, independent of foreign powers, corporate agendas, or platform providers’ terms that can change rapidly. It is the right to shape one’s own digital future.
• Data Sovereignty: Is perhaps the most concrete aspect currently, strongly linked to legislation like GDPR. It’s about where data is stored, who has access to it, and ensuring that its handling complies with national laws and internal policies, regardless of where the provider is based.

The problem is that the convenience of rapid, external solutions often leads to unplanned dependency. A dependency that can manifest as:

1. Vendor lock-in: Technical, contractual, and knowledge-based entanglement with a specific vendor, making it difficult, costly, or impossible to switch.
2. Lack of transparency: Opacity regarding where data is physically stored, who has access, and how the systems actually work under the hood.
3. Security risks: Increased attack surface through third-party dependencies and the potential for data exposure outside of your own control.
4. Unpredictable costs: Vendors can change pricing models, and scaling can become exponentially expensive.
5. Reduced freedom to act: Difficulties in integrating with other systems, adapting solutions to specific needs, or innovating at your own pace.
6. Regulatory challenges: Complexity in complying with rulings like Schrems II or future regulations concerning data flows and AI usage when data and services reside outside the EU/EEA.

This is where the exit strategy comes into play. An exit strategy is not a panic measure to be resorted to when a crisis is already a reality. It is proactive, strategic planning for how you can leave a system, a platform, or a vendor, if the need arises. It is an integrated part of a mature digital strategy.

A well-thought-out exit strategy is your insurance against future lock-in and your key to actually achieving digital control, sovereignty, and data sovereignty. It forces you to:

• Map dependencies: Which systems are critical? Where is the data located? Who is the vendor? What integrations exist?
• Identify risks: What would a switch cost in time, money, and effort? What business disruptions could occur?
• Define your desired state: What would a solution that gives you the control and sovereignty you need look like? What technical and organizational requirements does this entail?
• Explore alternatives: What alternatives are available on the market? Can open source, in-house solutions, or other vendors offer a better position?
• Plan the transition: How do we migrate the data? How do we ensure continuity? How do we train the staff? What legal and contractual aspects must be handled?

Having an exit strategy in place provides immediate benefits, even if you never fully execute it:

• Strengthened negotiation position: Knowing that you can leave gives you a stronger position in negotiations with current vendors.
• Increased resilience: You are better prepared for unexpected events, whether it’s a vendor going bankrupt, dramatically changing terms, or suffering a security breach.
• Future-proofing: You are better equipped to meet changing regulations and future technological shifts.
• Real control: You move from being a prisoner in the vendor’s ecosystem to being a conscious actor who owns their own digital future.

Gaining digital control and achieving digital and data sovereignty isn’t about building everything yourself or avoiding the cloud at all costs. It’s about making conscious choices based on a strategic plan. It’s about understanding your dependencies and actively planning how you can manage or eliminate them if necessary.

Your digital future deserves more than a hope-it-goes-well strategy. It requires a conscious plan for control. It requires an exit strategy.

Have you mapped your digital dependencies? Do you know the way out? Perhaps it’s time to start the conversation internally. Your digital sovereignty is at stake.