Amazon Web Services (AWS), the biggest cloud platform, had a major outage caused by a problem in a data center in Northern Virginia. Banks, business tools like accounting software, and even social apps felt it. AWS said it fixed the root cause, but some users still reported issues. So much for an “always-on” internet, right?

But what is “the cloud,” anyway? It is like renting computers and storage over the internet instead of buying your own servers. Companies pay only for what they use—pay as you go—which sounds smart, until the power goes out. Then the smart idea suddenly looks fragile.

Three giants dominate this market: AWS (about 30%), Microsoft Azure (about 20%), and Google Cloud (about 13%). All three have had recent outages. If everyone rents from a few landlords, what happens when one landlord locks the door? You already know the answer: many websites and apps stop working at the same time.

There are serious risks. First, a single point of failure: one small mistake can freeze huge parts of the internet. Second, vendor lock-in: it’s hard and expensive to move your data elsewhere, thanks to high data egress fees—charges for taking data out. Third, geopolitical and regulatory risks: most big clouds are U.S.-based, so your data may be affected by U.S. law, which can clash with rules in other countries. Comforting? Not really.

So what can companies do—besides crossing their fingers? One answer is multi-cloud: run important apps on more than one provider to avoid one big failure. Another is edge computing: move some storage and processing closer to users, on smaller local nodes you control. Together, these steps can make systems faster, more resilient, and less dependent on any one vendor. It’s the old advice: don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

In short, the outage is a reminder: the cloud is convenient, but convenience without backup plans is just wishful thinking with a monthly invoice. If we keep piling our digital life into a few mega-warehouses, we shouldn’t act surprised when one broken bolt shakes the whole building.