Digital Transformation Beyond the Cloud
Five or ten years ago, digital transformation strategies often centered around cloud migration. Today, most businesses have adopted the cloud, but the results haven’t always aligned with expectations. To advance along the digital transformation path, forward-thinking organizations might consider cloud repatriation. This approach allows businesses to correct earlier missteps in their digital transformation efforts. Here’s why cloud repatriation should be integral to modern digital transformation strategies.
Digital Transformation and the Cloud
Cloud computing and digital transformation are closely intertwined. For businesses not yet utilizing the cloud, migrating to cloud environments is a clear way to propel digital transformation. However, with 94% of enterprises already using some form of cloud service, the landscape has shifted. Even smaller businesses are increasingly leveraging cloud-based solutions such as desktop-as-a-service and cloud storage.
Cloud Repatriation: A Path to Digital Transformation
A more innovative approach to the relationship between the cloud and digital transformation is cloud repatriation—the migration of workloads from the cloud back to on-premises environments. While not a new concept, cloud repatriation has gained traction in recent years as businesses recognize that the cloud hasn’t always fulfilled their digital transformation goals. Repatriating public cloud workloads to on-premises or hybrid architectures can enhance an organization’s digital transformation strategy. Here are five ways cloud repatriation can drive digital transformation:
Improved Application Performance and User Experience
The cloud offers on-demand resources that can enhance application performance and user experience during peak demand. However, inherent performance drawbacks, particularly in networking, can hinder this. Hosting apps on-premises can reduce latency and bandwidth issues, providing better performance and user experience, especially for in-house applications used by employees.
Increased Financial Efficiency
Initially, the cloud’s pay-as-you-go model appeared to simplify IT budgeting, eliminating the need for capital expenditures. However, this doesn’t always equate to cost-efficiency. The total cost of ownership for servers, storage, and network infrastructure may be lower with on-premises hosting. Additionally, the complexity of cloud cost models, with their myriad fees and usage rates, can be avoided with on-premises resources.
Improved Organizational Culture
While the cloud facilitates collaboration and provides a consistent IT environment, it can also fragment organizational culture by enabling IT silos. On-premises IT environments typically require more oversight, promoting a cohesive culture and stronger IT governance.
Enhanced Agility
The cloud enables rapid deployment of resources, promoting agility. However, heavy investment in a particular cloud platform can hinder flexibility. On-premises environments, particularly those built on platforms like Kubernetes, can offer greater flexibility, allowing seamless movement between on-premises and cloud environments.
Enhanced Security
Although the notion that the cloud is inherently less secure than on-premises is a myth, on-premises environments offer the advantage of complete disconnection from the network. This is crucial for certain workloads, such as data backups, where maximum security is achieved by storing them in air-gapped, on-premises infrastructure, immune to network threats.
Conclusion: Rethinking the Cloud
The cloud will remain a key component of digital transformation strategies for years to come. However, it’s essential to reassess cloud strategies and identify areas where they fall short. In some instances, cloud repatriation can help achieve digital transformation goals that the initial cloud migration failed to meet.
