So, where are we heading to? Towards cloud, or away from cloud? This has been a lingering question in the tech world for some time now.

Some time back when we had found cloud computing as the ultimate solution to our IT infrastructure repository, we felt on the moon. However, the scenario has changed.

Many companies are choosing to migrate back to their on-premise servers. This led to the question of the credibility of cloud computing servers.

Thus, we went on the quest of finding answers to reverse cloud migration, also known as cloud repatriation. We asked some experienced and knowledgeable people in the industry to throw some light on why organizations are choosing to migrate back.

Keep reading to find some concrete answers to the situation.

 

Leslie Gilmour
Founder and CEO of Befound SEO

The main reason behind companies moving away from cloud computing is simply because some of them prefer to maintain full control over their data, which can be challenging in a cloud environment. The cost also needs to be taken into consideration, as well as the fact that, sometimes, on-premises solutions offer lower latency and better performance.

Unfortunately, the process of migrating data from the cloud back to on-premises infrastructure – or reverse cloud migration, as you’ve called it – can be quite complex and time-consuming. The most difficult part is undoubtedly application refactoring, i.e., a complete rewrite of certain applications designed for the cloud. As for security, it’s crucial to use secure transfer protocols and strong encryption – any lapses in data security can result in data breaches.

Regarding your last question, I think it’s important to perform a thorough analysis of the total cost of ownership for on-premises infrastructure compared to the cloud in order to determine the cost-effectiveness of reverse cloud migration. Business owners should also consider scalability – on-premises infrastructure must be able to handle growth without excessive upfront investment.

 

Alexis L. Irwin
Founder of Influencerrate

In my opinion, it is essential to know (and perhaps understand) the data you are migrating and how it will be utilized on the target system before you begin the migration process. Know the format and magnitude of the data being pulled over. There could be an enormous number of fields in the initial data, and not all of them ought to be converted over to the new system. It’s also possible that a source has certain data fields lacking, needing a lookup in another place.

Determine what must be transferred, what can be abandoned, and what is lacking. Conduct an audit of the data, not only whether or not it fits with the requirements for the transferable information fields. You may question the necessity of passing data if you find that many fields are empty, there are many missing pieces of data, the data is unreliable, or there are other issues.

An organization risks wasting time and money on the process of migration if it neglects the source evaluation step and instead builds assumptions about the data. The worst-case scenario is that the organization discovers a fatal error within the data mapping that completely halts all forward movement.

 

Roy Castleman
Managing Director at EC-MSP

I would say that all businesses seek to create value at every customer touchpoint through personalized e-commerce, customer marketing, service, and supply chain interactions. A hybrid cloud strategy enhances the consumer experience by accelerating time to market. You can also respond to customer requirements and requests faster and develop new products and services more swiftly.

Using a hybrid cloud model, for instance, healthcare organizations can interact with patients in real time. Financial institutions can keep a closer eye on the complete finances of their clients. There is no doubt that many resources are best stored in the cloud. But expect more essential network components to migrate to private infrastructure.

I believe we will continue to discover that the optimal approach to maximize cost savings and productivity while minimizing privacy and security concerns is a hybrid one. This may be an excellent method for your organization to reconcile its current solutions with future-proof, cost-effective infrastructure technology that combines simplicity, scalability, expandability, and security.

 

J.D. Brooks
Founder of Sentinel CISO

Although there isn’t typically an initial hit on capital expenditures with Cloud computing like there is with on-prem solutions, over time, if your organization does a higher volume workload over a period of time, the costs associated with cloud architectures are likely to increase. Yes, it’s true that the cloud is scalable, but that comes with a cost. Whether you’re running thousands of VMs, or storing petabytes of data (objects, blocks, files, snapshots, backups, etc.), the costs go up as demand increases. Data ingress and egress (moving data in and out of the cloud) are also billed at varied rates depending on how complex the cloud setup is. If you have multi-region clouds or hybrid setups, there could be additional costs.

While you may have a firm SLA in place between you and your cloud provider, you’re still at the mercy of their cybersecurity planning, as well. A breach of your provider’s network could lead to a compromise of your data, whether it’s stolen or just made irretrievable to you, this could lead to major disruptions to the business.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to network architecture, however. Rather than deciding on cloud or on-prem or having a knee-jerk reaction to recent events in cloud computing by deciding to reverse your organization’s entire cloud migration, it makes more sense to plan out everything in advance. Costs and security concerns notwithstanding, there are some exceptional benefits to having at least some sort of clean backup available via the cloud, especially in the event of a disruption

Basic Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery plans should always include some sort of off-site, out-of-region capability, even if it’s just a warm standby. It would be a mistake, however, to throw all of your eggs into one basket.

 

Vikas Kaushik
CEO at TechAhead

Cost Overruns: Because it operates on a pay-as-you-go basis, the cloud is sometimes regarded as a solution that is initially more economical. On the other hand, when consumption increases, some firms discover that their cloud fees can become quite exorbitant, which makes on-premises equipment appear to be a more cost-effective alternative.

 

Fahd Khan
Director of Marketing & Technology at Jetlevel Aviation

Data Residency: Because of the stringent rules that are in place in some countries regarding the locations at which data can be held, organizations may be required to bring their data back on-premises to remain in compliance with these regulations.

Control: Keeping control of one’s hardware and one’s infrastructure might be an attractive proposition for businesses that need to adhere to very particular control and governance standards.

 

Azzam Sheikh
Digital Strategist at Carifex

Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Strategies: Some businesses may decide to implement what is known as a hybrid or multi-cloud strategy, in which they use resources located both in the cloud and on-premises to meet the demands of their workload. This technique has the potential to provide flexibility and reduce the necessity of a complete move backward.

 

Helen Armstrong
Founder of Apsley Australia

Data Control: The opportunity to have more control over their data is a key factor driving businesses to return to on-premise data storage. Businesses that use cloud computing may be more susceptible to data breaches or leaks because they are committing their sensitive information to outside providers.

 

Lee Blackwell
Head of DevOps at Buccaneer Crew

Let’s recall what firms ‘did’ before the public cloud; to run a data center you’d need to either build something yourself – that is bricks’n’mortar, power, air con, fire suppression, data links, switches, cabinets, etc. and that’s all before you’ve installed a single server, or, you could rent space in someone else’s datacentre (most did the latter). Now you have a chunky monthly recurring cost.

Next up, you’ll need to buy & build servers; that’s a significant capex/investment cost and due to the nature of the workload, your new servers will initially be idle (poor value for money) and it will take some time for the work they perform to ramp up so they are earning their keep. If you run out of computing, you’ll need to buy more servers (capex). After some time (at least three years, possibly five) your servers will be ready for replacement and that investment cycle starts all over again.

This represents an ongoing ‘dialog’ (usually, a battle) between CIO/CTO types and CFOs, who don’t immediately recognize the ROI. Side note that all of this required staff, skilled in servers, datacentre, networking, etc. When the public cloud came along, it offered a way to move all of that pain into a monthly recurring cost that was directly linked to the resources in use. You can run one tiny VM or an entire fleet of heavy hitters, and everything becomes a nice ‘easy’ monthly opex that the finance team loves.

In short, you’re renting someone else’s computer. You’d still need staff to build your environment, but these guys were differently skilled to your traditional sysadmins; they’d spend their days clicking through a browser and whacking an API. Initially, it was a learning curve for everyone so staff couldn’t (yet) command a premium for their public cloud skills.

As public cloud services expanded beyond simple VMs, organizations found that they could build ‘everything’ inside their chosen public cloud and at all ‘just worked’.

 

Conclusion

All the above answers show us that the concept of a one-size-fits-all solution is a myth. Some organizations may find the cloud a very apt solution for their IT infrastructure some may find the other way around.

In a nutshell, what we have learned is that cloud computing may promise various advantages like flexibility and scalability but it still has issues such as control, compliance, and cost. Thus, it depends on your organizational needs to choose between cloud and on-premise servers.

For professional assistance on cloud computing, consider getting in touch with cloud experts at Dignitas Digital and get your queries addressed today!