What is Vendor Lock?

During my years working in corporate cloud computing, I’ve run into my fair share of hurdles. One of the biggest, most consistent challenges was moving data, only made hard by the costs incurred by vendor lock. 

I’m sure you’ve heard this term floating around in the tech industry. Vendor lock, also known as vendor lock-in, refers to reliance on a single vendor, so much so that migrating from that vendor would be catastrophic for the solution and company. There are typically two types of problems when it comes to vendor lock:

• Solution/Service Based: Vendors offer unique proprietary technologies that are hard to find open source, leaving much to be desired if migration becomes necessary
• Finance Based: Because the customer becomes dependent on single vendor, that vendor is able to roll out price increases and hike the price of egress, leaving the customer no choice but to pay for the unique tech and ecosystem

While in recent times, companies have discovered ways to avoid vendor lock, the threat of becoming dependent on a vendor is prevalent now more than ever. The bitter truth is that cloud computing and SaaS and vendor lock-in go hand in hand, with one of cloud’s biggest threats becoming one of its most necessary assets.

The Four Types of Vendor Lock In

The definition of vendor lock in is often diluted to being locked into a single cloud. If you really zoom into vendor lock, you’ll find that there are four specific types of lock in:

Data Vendor Lock In

As the name suggests, data vendor lock involves locking in your data by means of high egress costs. 

Storing data within a cloud provider is extremely convenient, allowing businesses to scale quickly and develop faster using all of the tools within an immersive ecosystem. Storing data costs relatively little (depending on the amount stored), with ingress services usually being provided by the cloud provider. 

Where problems arise is when trying to move your data from that ecosystem to a different one. Oftentimes, the cost of switching your data to another provider increases over time, especially because the amount of data generated has surpassed the amount of data initially migrated. Based on factors like volume of data, data destination, transfer speed, and more, egress fees can become extremely expensive, deterring users from even migrating. 

Tech Vendor Lock In

Tech vendor lock refers to the most commonly known aspect of vendor lock in. This scenario sees customers becoming dependent on a vendor because of a specific product or service.

Users typically join a cloud ecosystem because of a piece of proprietary tech they want to access. Whether it’s a new AI solution or a powerful database tool, cloud providers often have services that they’re known for and are exclusive to them, drawing in users looking to build with that specific solution. While this isn’t necessarily a problem, trouble can arise if your solution’s foundation is built on a specific solution. Companies experiencing this may have trouble migrating from their current vendor because of the proprietary tech that is foundational to their solution. 

Alternatives to proprietary tech are often hard to find and replicate. Companies can certainly migrate from vendors, however, their apps might not perform as well as when working with their original vendor. In fact, their application might be so integrated into their initial vendor so much so that removing proprietary tech can result in downtime for the app.

The promise of powerful, unique solutions is one of the biggest draws towards working with a specific cloud vendor, but is also the biggest risk of vendor lock in in cloud computing. 

Ecosystem Vendor Lock In

In the same vein of proprietary tech, ecosystem-based vendor lock sees users and companies locked into a vendor because of the ecosystem they provide. 

Ecosystem can refer to a ton of moving parts offered by a cloud vendor. From the aforementioned unique services and solutions, to dedicated support from experts and communities, the ecosystem is the heart of the cloud provider. An overlooked aspect of this ecosystem is the solution marketplace, in which companies working with these cloud vendors are able to sell their solutions to other companies in this space. Much like the App Store hosted by Apple, companies can sell their software in a dedicated store, with these sales comprising a bulk of their revenue. 

Becoming fully ingrained in the ecosystem can be extremely convenient, speeding up development processes and even seeming cost-effective in the short term. However, leaving this ecosystem can prove to be catastrophic for companies who’ve only built and sold in it. For one, the foundation of their apps will become unstable until new infrastructure is found. Companies selling within a dedicated marketplace will also see a significant decline in not only profit, but also traction as they find a new marketplace to host from. 

The result for many of these companies is to endure the high costs incurred by cloud vendors in order to maintain stability in their app and profits. 

Economic Vendor Lock

After considering the three aforementioned factors, you realize that you want to switch out from your current vendor and into a new one, perhaps even considering a multi cloud approach. Switching to a different vendor might give you a peace of mind for the moment, but the fact of the matter is that you’ll be in a similar, less constricted vendor situation.

Economic vendor lock represents the most cost-effective cloud option for your situation, though still requiring a semblance of lock in. It’s a necessary consequence of having a good cloud service, the neutral good option of all lock ins.

If you want cloud computing, then economic vendor lock is the small price to pay.

Preventative Measures for Cloud Lock

The risks of vendor lock in can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are some of the preventative measures that you can take in order to protect your cloud bill:

Say Goodbye to Egress

One of the simplest ways you can protect yourself from data vendor lock in is to work with companies that don’t charge for egress. As simple as it sounds, finding egress-free companies that meet your other cloud requirements is like finding a needle in a haystack. 

If you’re looking to mitigate vendor lock in the form of egress, Lyrid can help. 

Through our Data Center network, you’re able to transfer your data from one cloud to another at no cost. Our unique network on both on-prem and cloud providers gives you a truly tailored approach to data migration, giving you full insight and control over how and where your data is transferred. 

With 24/7 support and zero downtime, transfer your data worry-free with Lyrid.

Use a Product or Service with Open Standards

Some of the most powerful tech is locked away behind huge cloud providers. Oftentimes, accessing these solutions requires a contact with cloud providers and can also prove to be challenging once trying to migrate. 

One way to mitigate the effects of vendor lock would be to use tech with open standards. Proprietary products or services may be beneficial towards creating the foundation of your solutions, however, its uses are severely limited to the initial cloud ecosystem. Tech with open standards are widely available to the public and are constantly improved by community efforts. The best part is, open source tech is free to use and oftentimes encompasses a wide range of your solution needs.

Using open standard tech isn’t as simple as it sounds, however. The reason why proprietary tech is locked behind cloud providers is because those services are extremely unique. These cloud services are easy to start with, but are hard to leave because alternatives are hard to find. When using open standard tech, it’s important to be cognizant of your tech stack, especially when considering APIs or things that will need to be offloaded into an open source version. Depending on the external vendor, their open source tech might not be able to integrate with your solution.

Ecosystem Flexibility

While there isn’t necessarily a clear cut solution to ecosystem vendor lock in, one mitigation tactic can be to work with ecosystems that have been proven to work with every single vendor. 

A multi cloud strategy can certainly work in your favor when working towards ecosystem flexibility, however, you’re still susceptible to high cloud costs. With Lyrid, you’re able to facilitate your cloud deployments across multiple clouds and with our on-prem partners, creating a deployment strategy that’s uniquely yours! 

Misconceptions About Vendor Lockin

By now, you’re probably convinced that vendor lock in cloud computing is the worst thing to exist in this space. And you might be right; initiatives to avoid vendor lock-in have become a top priority for many organizations in the cloud space.

The fact of the matter is, vendor lock is a necessary evil. Many of the providers facilitating vendor lock in cloud are simply businesses, businesses that need moat to not only survive but to thrive. The more vendor lock a provider creates, the stronger their business is. While it may seem like you’re trapped within an ecosystem, you’re actually in the hands of a capable vendor for products and services that you actively need! 

Although I’ve spent a majority of this blog building a case for you to experience no vendor lock in, there are certainly benefits to the practice. For one, the benefits of being a part of a fully integrated ecosystem include:

• Convenient solution and service access
• Increased operational speed and efficiency
• Simple yet effective pipelines
• Dedicated support and community efforts
• Automatic service integration

And more!

Vendor lock also creates stronger competition amongst cloud providers, giving you the best price for the services you’re looking for when you do decide to migrate. 

Vendor lock in cloud and SaaS vendor lock in are just some of the necessary evils within this facet of business.

How to Avoid Vendor Lock In with Lyrid

Vendor lock represents the highest commitment to a singular cloud provider, in which switching out seems nearly impossible based on various factors. Despite the stigmas surrounding vendor lock, it remains to be a necessity within the cloud space, providing users with top-tier services and solutions.

If you’re looking to migrate from your current cloud, Lyrid is a great option! Our cloud agnostic approach enables you to deploy and develop on a mix between your favorite cloud providers and our on-prem partners, if that’s something you’re looking for. 

Offering services like Managed Kubernetes, Managed Databases, automated infrastructure spinning, and so much more, the Lyrid platform is the go-to solution for mitigating vendor lock while retaining performance. In addition, our platform and marketplace partner solutions are open-source, integrating directly with your application and evolving and scaling with you.

Want to learn more about escaping vendor lock with Lyrid? Book a call with me and let’s chat! I’d love to learn more about your solution and how we can help!