data residency
The legal and regulatory requirement that data be stored and processed within a specific geographic jurisdiction. GDPR requires that EU personal data not be transferred to countries without adequate data protection frameworks. Many enterprise customers require data residency as a procurement condition, making it a go-to-market consideration for SaaS vendors selling into regulated industries or international markets.
When you'd see it: Enterprise sales processes, cloud architecture design, privacy impact assessments, DPA negotiations.
Why it matters: Failure to comply with data residency requirements can result in large regulatory fines and lost enterprise deals. For global SaaS companies, multi-region architecture to support residency is often a prerequisite for selling into certain verticals.
Common mistakes: Assuming cloud provider region selection is sufficient. Residency also covers data processed in transit, backups, and third-party subprocessors.
Study this in BizTech Primer →