Sooner or later, you’re going to have to move some of your data. Perhaps you’re moving to a hybrid cloud model, and need to move some offsite. Maybe it’s already out there in a third-party’s infrastructure, and the contract isn’t working out as you’d planned. Or perchance you’re being smart and replicating between two infrastructure-as-a-service providers for increased resilience. Whatever the reason, you’ve got some planning to do.

Before you even get into the technology stuff, consider where your precious bits are going to end up. “As the EU’s new data regulations illustrate, data location is key if you are handling customer or private information,” warned Mark Ebden, strategic consultant at IT services company Trustmarque.

This may of course be why you’re moving it in the first place – to get it out of a cloud provider that is looking a bit shaky in the wake of Safe Harbour’s collapse.