Before subscribing to software as a service (SaaS), verify that you can retrieve your data in a form you can use, understand what happens at termination, and estimate the work of moving. A download button alone does not prove that an export is complete or that another service can use it. For a business-critical tool, request a sample export and test recovery before you depend on the service.
What to test before you buy
Assess the exit path across six areas. These questions synthesize European Commission and Australian Government guidance; they are useful buying prompts, not a statutory checklist that applies to every buyer.
| Area | Ask the vendor |
|---|---|
| Export coverage | Which records, attachments, metadata, user information, configuration, and history are included? What is excluded? |
| Format and access | Are exports machine-readable and documented? Can you retrieve them yourself, through an API, on a schedule, or only by contacting support? |
| Migration compatibility | Can a likely replacement import the files? Which integrations, automations, permissions, workflows, or vendor-specific features would need to be rebuilt? |
| Contract exit rights | What deadlines, fees, support obligations, retrieval windows, and post-termination access rules apply? |
| Retention and deletion | What data remains after termination, for how long, and what confirmation of deletion can you obtain? |
| Continuity and effort | How much staff time and transition time will the move require? Will you need backups, parallel operation, or a recovery plan? |
Check whether the export is actually portable
Get a written inventory of exportable content and, if possible, sample files before signing. A useful export may need more than the obvious documents or database rows: relationships between records, timestamps, permissions, attachments, settings, and audit history can matter when reconstructing how the service was used.
Ask for the file formats, any documented schema, size or frequency limits, and the exact retrieval procedure. Then check whether a plausible destination can ingest the files. “Downloadable” and “reusable elsewhere” are different promises.
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The European Commission says that, for Platform and Software as a Service providers within the Data Act’s scope, “providers of Platform and Software as a Service must make open interfaces available and, at a minimum, export data in a commonly used and machine-readable format.” This is a scoped EU requirement, not a guarantee that every SaaS product everywhere offers a complete, one-click migration.
Account for features and dependencies, not just files
Map the connections that make the service work: integrations, APIs, automations, scheduled jobs, identity and access settings, and provider-specific functionality. A replacement may accept the core data but not reproduce a workflow or integration. List what must be recreated, what has a substitute, and what would be lost or require a changed process.
For critical services, document a migration plan proportionate to the service’s importance and your dependence on the provider. Australian Government Architecture guidance recommends exit strategies, migration planning, cost estimates, continuity arrangements, and testing; its checklist is non-mandatory guidance, not a rule binding every buyer.
Read the termination and data terms closely
Review the contract and relevant data-processing terms for the practical limits on leaving. Look for the export window, whether access continues after cancellation, the time allowed to retrieve data, any export or support charges, retention periods, deletion timing and scope, and whether the provider will confirm deletion. A broad statement that you can export your data does not answer these operational questions.
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Provider instructions are specific to that provider and product. For example, Google Cloud’s published portability and switching procedures describe Google Cloud products and explicitly do not apply to Google Workspace; do not assume those steps or limits describe another service.
Estimate the real transition cost
Price the move in effort as well as money. Include staff time to clean, map, transfer, and validate data; engineering or vendor support; rebuilding integrations and automations; temporary parallel operation; and the time needed to train users or restore service if a migration fails. Record who owns each task and what continuity arrangements are needed while the old and new systems overlap.
Keep an independently controlled copy of important exports where appropriate. That copy can help with continuity, but storage hardware does not make an incomplete export complete or prove that it can be restored.
Run a practical exit test
- Request the inventory and sample. Ask the vendor for a written list of exportable data, formats, exclusions, limits, and retrieval methods.
- Inspect the output. Check that expected records and attachments are present, that relationships and metadata are represented, and that files are readable with documented formats or schemas.
- Try the destination. Import a sample into a likely replacement, or otherwise verify that it can consume the data. Identify manual work and unsupported features.
- Review the contract. Confirm the retrieval deadline, fees, access after termination, retention, deletion, and any assistance included.
- Plan continuity and ownership. Estimate effort and overlap, assign an owner, and document backups, recovery steps, and the conditions that would trigger a move.
- Test recovery for critical services. Perform an export-and-restore exercise before the service becomes difficult to replace, and keep the results with the exit plan.
Understand what portability laws do—and do not—promise
The European Commission’s Data Act explainer describes open-interface and machine-readable export requirements for covered Platform and Software as a Service providers. It also says switching charges, including data-egress charges, are to be removed from 12 January 2027; during the preceding transition period, charges tied to incurred switching and egress costs may be permitted. This is dated EU guidance, so check the Act’s scope, your circumstances, and the effective dates rather than treating it as a global rule or assuming every contract is already fee-free.
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The Digital Markets Act has a separate portability regime for designated gatekeepers, covering user-provided or user-generated data and describing free tools and continuous real-time access. Those obligations should not be confused with general SaaS portability duties.
Make the subscription decision
Proceed with a clearer view of lock-in if the vendor can specify the export, the destination can use it, contract terms leave enough time and access to retrieve it, and the migration effort is manageable. If key details remain unanswered, treat that as a purchasing risk: seek written commitments, reduce the amount of critical work held in the service, or compare a provider with a more testable exit route.
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