What is a potential risk when a cloud provider goes out of business?

When considering the risks associated with a cloud provider going out of business, the focus on vendor lock-out is pertinent. Vendor lock-out refers to the situation where a customer becomes dependent on a particular vendor's services and cannot easily transfer their data or switch to another provider due to proprietary formats, lack of compatibility, or contractual restraints.

If a cloud service provider dissolves, customers may find themselves unable to retrieve their data, especially if there are legal or technical barriers preventing a straightforward migration. This creates a situation where organizations could be stuck with an inaccessible data set or forced to incur significant costs to retrieve or convert their data, leading to operational challenges. The possibility of vendor lock-out emphasizes the importance of choosing cloud services that allow for portability and compatibility with multiple vendors.

While data loss is indeed a risk, and issues related to service continuity can occur, vendor lock-out specifically highlights the challenges posed by reliance on a single vendor. Increased security would not be a potential risk when a provider ceases operations, as the risk primarily revolves around access and management of data rather than a security enhancement.