Cloud repatriation: What it is, what it isn't, and why it's not going away

Introduction

Cloud repatriation, a company's decision to move workloads or applications from the public cloud to a private cloud alternative, has been perceived by some in the industry as an indicator of declining interest in public cloud services, perhaps suggesting troubled times ahead for hyperscalers. Others, however, suggest that it might be time to retire the notion of repatriation (with its connotations of a return to the natural order of things in the aftermath of hasty or misguided decisions) in favor of a term that more accurately captures the dynamic nature of IT in the service of digital business – 'workload mobility.' The repatriation terminology is also imprecise because it implies an absolute and permanent transition away from the public cloud, when the shift may in fact be temporary or involve only a limited number of workloads.Cloud repatriation does not signal the beginning of the end for cloud providers, but rather the end of the beginning for cloud itself. As most enterprises wrap up their initial explorations of the cloud, they become more skilled with the technology and are better positioned to determine the best execution venue – public/off-premises or private/on-premises – for each workload. Ultimately, the cloud repatriation discussion underscores two important trends in enterprise IT: application mobility and the appeal of hybrid IT architecture.

The 451 Take

There is much debate surrounding what the cloud repatriation phenomenon could mean for the future of the industry. Where you stand depends on where you sit. The hyperscale cloud players may dismiss or downplay the notion by touting the flexibility/agility virtues of public clouds, while the datacenter incumbent vendors point to the security and operational control benefits of onpremises/private infrastructure (and suggest that the repatriation trend is much larger or permanent than it actually is). However, data on cloud repatriation is almost always taken out of context. Most organizations no longer look for a single all-encompassing solution to their IT needs, but rather an IT estate that accommodates the cost, performance and governance requirements of different workloads (a notion we've been calling 'best execution venue' for years now). Data from 451 Research's datacenter/colocation- and IaaS/PaaS public cloud-focused surveys shows that cloud repatriation is indeed happening, but it's not about to put the hyperscalers out of business. Some organizations are opting for on-premises/private cloud environments for good reasons – some of which are about public cloud, while others have more to do with organization/governance issues and availability of cloud expertise/skill. Movement of applications, workloads and data between environments will not be a one-time event; it will become a standard IT practice. It's a revolving door, not a boomerang.

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