The market for Cloud Computing is growing continuously. While global sales in 2021 were still around USD 413 billion, the market volume in 2022 already amounted to USD 491 billion (+19%). But while the momentum towards the cloud continues, a large number of studies analyze the so-called Cloud Repatriation: the return of cloud computing and cloud storage to one’s own data center.
Cloud Repatriation are not isolated cases. According to the study by Veeam (White Paper on “Cloud Protection Trends 2023”, November 2023) the proportion of companies that have already brought IT Workload back to the data center is 88%. According to the Cloudera study, 74% of the companies surveyed want to bring data back from the cloud to their own data center. The reasons for this are manifold and are analyzed in studies by Veeam, DELL, Cloudera (“Into the Cloud and Back Again”, July 2023) and others. Here’s the main reasons for Cloud Repatatriation:
Costs. It is undisputed that the cloud offers cost advantages for smaller workloads compared to a data center (for start-ups, for example). However, once a certain threshold of IT workload is exceeded, the cost advantage shifts in favor of the company’s own data center. In addition, there is less cost transparency and there’s the problem of hidden costs. The DELL study quantifies this as follows: The higher cost efficiency of their own data center was the reason for cloud repatriation for 96% of about 140 companies surveyed.
Security or Cyber Security. According to the DELL study, 40% of the study participants cited security and compliance as the main reasons for repatriating workloads. In the Cloudera study, half of the participants say there are concerns about data privacy compliance.
Another important driver is Performance: In the Cloudera study, 55% of the study participants cite performance problems in the real-time processing of large amounts of data. It is also reasonable to assume that not every user’s cloud architecture is optimally configured. Study participants also cite that storing data in different cloud and on-premises environments makes data use more difficult.
