Originally published by VMblog
The “modern business” is changing its cloud strategy for app and workload locations. This trend is popularly called “cloud repatriation”, which means the migration of workloads from a public to a private cloud environment. Such a move depends on what the organization needs and its goals and requirements.
However, this trend isn’t new. What’s more, the process is often mistaken for a return to on-premise infrastructure – and so many businesses dismiss this move out of hand, certain that the public cloud has everything they need and more. These are not necessarily truths, though, as public clouds are no longer the default. That’s not to say private clouds have taken over as the go-to solutions, only that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all cloud option out there anymore. So, what is cloud repatriation and why is it trending?
The modern business seeks agility above all
While public clouds remain popular due to their flexibility and scalability, the “modern business” seeks agility in its operational model. This means that even if public clouds are the best match for their overall needs, they may not be the best match for all the business’s workloads.
To give you an example, real-time analytics and machine learning require high performance and low latencies – meaning that private cloud environments are often far better suited for the job. In addition, many businesses seek to repatriate workloads from the public cloud to cut costs and improve cybersecurity.
A survey by 451 Research in 2021 revealed that 48% of IT decision-makers migrated workloads from top-tier providers to other locations, but only specific workloads were repatriated. This shows that the modern business is pursuing agility in its cloud deployment strategy by being more selective and opting for a mix of public and private clouds. Further evidence can be found in a recent Forrester Research survey, which revealed that organizations moving to private clouds experienced a 28% reduction in infrastructure costs. Naturally, this cost-effectiveness is one of the reasons businesses are looking into cloud repatriation.
Cost optimization and cybersecurity
Another reason is security. Industries such as finance and healthcare – where information is precious and strictly confidential – have security requirements that public clouds often struggle to meet. Private clouds, on the other hand, are far better suited. They offer much better control, which is essential for businesses seeking to stay secure and comply with regulations and requirements.
Returning to the point about costs, many businesses migrate their workloads to the public clouds only to discover lots of unexpected expenses and less-than-ideal infrastructure solutions. As the same Forrester survey shows, 44% of respondents cited budget constraints and cost issues as the primary challenge when migrating to the private cloud. Consequently, they seek to migrate certain workloads back, as repatriating to a private cloud environment offers better cost management and optimized infrastructure, not to mention security. But is making the move as easy as it sounds?
Next challenge: the repatriation
Yes and no. Migrating workloads to a private cloud environment is complex, often seeing massive amounts of data and complicated applications move between different systems and environments. Hence, the process requires careful planning. If businesses neglect to set a proper strategy, the process can easily disrupt day-to-day operations and become time-consuming.
According to another Forrester Research survey, the main challenges organizations face when migrating to the private cloud were:
- Lack of internal skills and expertise
- Difficulty integrating with existing systems
- Complicated legacy applications and infrastructure
- Concerns about security and compliance
- Cost and budget constraints
That said, there are shortcuts and support to be found. Modern problems, as they say, require modern solutions – and there are many bespoke clouds and managed service providers that make transitions much more straightforward. These are often specialized in making it easy to deploy and manage, offering the option of scaling according to demand without compromising cybersecurity.
How to succeed with cloud repatriation
As established, cloud repatriation is about agility. It’s about choosing the best solution to a challenge and working strategically to optimize one’s operations instead of opting for the one-size-fits-all. Yet, as demonstrated by the five points above, repatriating isn’t always easy. It requires careful planning, collaboration with service providers and vendors, good timing, and hard work.
But cloud repatriation is worth it if the potential for cost savings and security exists. The key is to analyze the efficiency and effectiveness of one’s current workloads and infrastructure beforehand to understand what you need and if it’s worth it. As technology advances ever onwards, businesses must keep their eyes open to innovative solutions that can increase their agility and flexibility. Cloud services naturally fall into that category. All that remains is to decide what, how, and when.
