Migrating a business application to the cloud: cost and data sovereignty in Amsterdam (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

A server in a cupboard is not a saving: without a disaster recovery plan, a disk failure or a water leak can stop operations for days. Moving a business application to a European cloud provider (OVHcloud, Scaleway, or a Dutch host) costs €10,000 to €30,000 once, then €150 to €800 a month, with data hosted in the EU and downtime capped at 4 hours on cutover day. AWS or Azure remain relevant for very specific needs but usually cost 30 to 50% more for an equivalent SME scope.

The assessment before migrating

The IT manager of a 120-person SME near Amsterdam often inherits a classic situation: a business application (production planning, quotes, after-sales tracking) built 8 years ago, a PostgreSQL or SQL Server database, a physical server out of warranty, a USB-disk backup nobody tests. Before pricing, answer four questions: which dependencies (licences, printers, local ERP), what data volume, what downtime tolerance, which sensitive data.

The 2026 migration budget

Cost depends mainly on the state of the application: a recent web app moves in a few days, a 2010s Windows thick client often needs a remote access layer or a partial rebuild.

The 3-2-1 rule remains the benchmark: 3 copies of the data, on 2 different media, 1 of them off-site. In a European cloud, that means daily backups to a second region plus an immutable weekly copy, for €30 to €80 a month depending on volume.

Sovereignty: when to demand a certified sovereign cloud

For most industrial or service SMEs, a standard EU-owned provider is enough, and it keeps you outside the reach of the US CLOUD Act. A certified sovereign offer becomes relevant if you process health data, sensitive public-sector data, or if a defence or energy client requires it, and NIS2 obligations now push more Dutch suppliers to document where data lives. It adds, as an order of magnitude, 20 to 40% to the monthly hosting cost.

Mini case study

Pieter, IT manager of a precision engineering SME near Amsterdam, must replace his server: €12,000 of hardware, plus €3,600 a year for maintenance, power and cooling. Over 3 years, staying on premises costs €22,800. Migration to a European cloud is quoted at €18,000, plus €420 a month, or €33,120 over 3 years. The €10,320 gap covers the risk: last year, a 2-day outage blocked shipments and pushed back about €35,000 in revenue. Avoiding a single outage pays for the gap more than 3 times over.

FAQ

How long will the application be unavailable?

Cutover happens on a Friday evening or Saturday, with a targeted downtime of 4 hours maximum. Data is synchronised beforehand, and only the final delta moves during the window.

OVHcloud or Scaleway, which one?

Both are reliable and European. OVHcloud has more data centres and sovereign-certified offers, Scaleway a simpler interface and modern managed services, including an Amsterdam region. The price gap stays below 10% for an SME.

Do we need to rewrite the application?

Rarely. In 70% of cases it moves as is to a virtual machine. A partial rebuild only makes sense for a Windows thick client or an obsolete database.

What does an SME disaster recovery plan contain?

A 4-hour recovery time objective, a maximum data loss of 24 hours, a written procedure and a restore test at least twice a year.

Is the cloud more expensive in the long run?

On hardware alone, sometimes by 10 to 30%. Once you include outage risk, IT staff time and replacing hardware every 5 years, it is usually equal or cheaper.

Let's scope your project. Describe your application, data volume and downtime tolerance: we will price the migration between €10,000 and €30,000 with a 6-week plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.