ClickHouse, a SaaS database company, has introduced a new feature allowing users to export backups of their ClickHouse Cloud services to their own cloud storage, enhancing user data sovereignty and control. Users can now manage their own backup lifecycle, decide on retention policies, and store backups in various regions for added security and cost efficiency, though they must handle the deletion of backups themselves to avoid excessive storage costs. This feature is available on AWS, GCP, and Azure, requiring users to configure roles and permissions for backup operations. Unlike ClickHouse's default incremental backups, external backups are full backups, minimizing the risk of data loss but requiring more resources and time. The company is also planning to introduce cross-cloud backup capabilities, enabling backups across different cloud providers, which could offer additional economic and strategic benefits.