The fire exit audit

We all know our European organisations are up to their eyeballs in American vendors. Most of us don’t really know how much, though.

Here’s a quick analysis you can do to get an idea of how exposed you are to any American “kill switch”.

Map out every important service you’d lose if it went dark. Then, for each one, figure out where they’re legally based (you might need to look at parent companies too), when its contract renews, and what format your data would export in if you had to grab it while running for the fire exit (“there’s an export button” is not an answer).

Then pick those whose simultaneous loss would shut your work down. That’s usually something like email, identity, and hosting. Write down how many days you’d survive without them.

That’s it. Just a quick exercise. No need for budgets or strategy documents. Most organisations end up with five to fifteen dependencies and regularly find a couple of unexpected services in there.

Do this exercise regularly. A European vendor could be acquired and turn American by the end of the year. Many contracts only have an action window at renewal, too.

Colin