Source URL: https://thenewstack.io/why-companies-are-ditching-the-cloud-the-rise-of-cloud-repatriation/
Source: Hacker News
Title: Why Companies Are Ditching the Cloud: The Rise of Cloud Repatriation
Feedly Summary: Comments
AI Summary and Description: Yes
**Summary:** The text discusses the emerging trend of cloud repatriation, where companies are moving workloads from public cloud providers back to on-premises solutions. High-profile cases from organizations like 37signals and GEICO highlight the growing consideration around cloud economics, vendor lock-in, and the challenges associated with managing cloud infrastructure.
**Detailed Description:**
The article explores the strategic shift towards cloud repatriation, illustrating how companies evaluate the costs and benefits of their cloud infrastructures. Several key points are made about this trend:
– **High-Profile Cases:**
– **37signals**: The founder announced a complete exit from AWS to save $2 million annually, indicating significant dissatisfaction with cloud costs.
– **GEICO**: Reports challenges in migrating workloads, as costs rose by 2.5x over ten years despite efforts to transition to the cloud.
– **Acknowledgment by Cloud Providers**:
– AWS, during a regulatory hearing in the UK, admitted that customers do, in fact, return to on-premises solutions, counteracting the longstanding belief that cloud migration is one-way.
– **Cost Considerations**:
– The text highlights significant concerns about operational costs associated with cloud services, particularly storage and legacy applications.
– Companies like GEICO find that running these applications in the cloud proves economically unviable, leading to financial justifications for repatriation.
– **Vendor Lock-in Issues**:
– Organizations often face difficulties with vendor lock-in, especially when using managed database services that complicate operational flexibility and make custom optimization challenging.
– Self-hosting solutions, such as databases in Kubernetes, are emerging as a workaround for this issue.
– **Decision Factors for Repatriation**:
– Considerations like organizational scale, engineering capacity, and investment strategy are highlighted as critical in deciding whether to move back on-premises.
– Companies with predictable workloads may benefit more from repatriation compared to startups that rely on cloud abstraction to focus on growth.
– **Innovation within Cloud Environments**:
– Besides repatriating, organizations are exploring innovative solutions within cloud environments, using specialized storage and computing technologies to enhance performance while avoiding vendor lock-in.
– Techniques like utilizing NVMe-based storage or custom database engineering within the cloud ecosystem reveal a hybrid approach to infrastructure.
– **Forward-Looking Perspectives**:
– The article posits that success in cloud strategy is less about the binary choice of on-premises vs. cloud and more about making educated decisions based on specific business needs and operational factors.
Overall, the insights provided signal a critical evaluation of cloud strategies that security, privacy, and compliance professionals should consider when defining their infrastructure frameworks. Adapting to changing economic pressures and technological advances is crucial for ensuring robust and efficient operational models.