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What is cloud repatriation?

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Overview

Cloud repatriation is the process of migrating workloads, including databases, from public cloud environments back to on-premises data centers, private clouds, or hybrid infrastructures. Organizations pursue repatriation to improve security, reduce costs, enhance performance, or meet data sovereignty requirements.

Based on Foundry’s Cloud Computing Study in 2024, 90% of IT Decision Makers have experienced some obstacles with their cloud adoption over the past 12 months, such as:

  • Budget/cost
  • Security and/or compliance concerns
  • Integration/migration challenges
  • Skills gaps
  • Performance and reliability
  • Internal resistance

And while the reasons for repatriation vary, but for over 51% of the decision makers, the issues lie with security.

Cloud repatriation

Why are companies repatriating database workloads?

Security and control: Companies with stringent security needs prefer on-premises solutions to minimize attack surfaces, enforce custom security policies, and ensure complete visibility into infrastructure vulnerabilities.

Performance optimization: In cloud environments, latency-sensitive applications, high-throughput analytics, and mission-critical database workloads may experience performance limitations. On-premises and private cloud solutions can offer more predictable performance with direct hardware optimizations.

Cost efficiency: Public cloud costs, including data egress fees, unpredictable pricing models, and long-term TCO considerations, often drive organizations to reassess their cloud strategies. By repatriating, businesses can reduce operational expenses and gain greater control over infrastructure costs.

Data governance and compliance: Regulatory requirements, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and industry-specific mandates, often require strict data residency and sovereignty measures. Repatriation ensures organizations maintain direct control over sensitive data.

Vendor lock-in concerns: Some organizations repatriate to avoid dependency on a single cloud provider, ensuring flexibility and avoiding excessive costs associated with proprietary cloud services.

Common approaches to cloud repatriation

Hybrid cloud strategies

Many businesses repatriate core database workloads while keeping some applications in the public cloud (SaaS), leveraging a hybrid architecture for optimal flexibility.

Private cloud deployment

Organizations build private clouds using containerized or virtualized environments to replicate cloud benefits while retaining control.

On-premises infrastructure

Businesses invest in high-performance, on-premises infrastructure optimized for database workloads, often integrating advanced storage and compute solutions.

What types of workloads should be repatriated?

Cloud repatriation isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. The best candidates for repatriation are high-cost, latency-sensitive, compliance-driven, or security-critical workloads that benefit from better cost efficiency, performance, and data control when run on-premises, in private clouds, or hybrid environments.

Key considerations before cloud repatriation

Workload suitability: Not all workloads benefit from repatriation—identify which databases have high latency sensitivity, regulatory needs, security, or cost concerns.

Skill and resource availability: On-premises infrastructure requires in-house expertise; assess whether your team has the necessary skills to manage database workloads effectively.

Migration complexity: Evaluate the complexity of moving large-scale database workloads and assess potential downtime, data consistency issues, and application dependencies.

Total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis: Ensure repatriation will lead to cost savings when factoring in infrastructure, staffing, and maintenance costs.

How OpenText can help migrate your data workloads

As organizations seek greater control over costs, performance, security, and data sovereignty, moving database workloads from SaaS environments to on-premises, private cloud, or hybrid architectures requires a strategic and well-executed approach. OpenText Analytics Database (Vertica) offers the tools, expertise, and flexibility needed to facilitate a seamless migration while optimizing performance and scalability.

Flexible deployment across any infrastructure

  • Deploy OpenText Analytics Database on-premises, in private cloud, or in hybrid model without vendor lock-in.
  • Supports bare metal, virtualized environments, Kubernetes, and containerized deployments.
  • Integrates with leading cloud and on-prem storage solutions for optimized performance.

Security, compliance and data sovereignty

  • Meet GDPR, HIPAA, and industry-specific compliance requirements with on-prem or private cloud control.
  • End-to-end encryption, role-based access controls, and audit logging for enhanced security.
  • Eliminate reliance on third-party SaaS providers for data privacy and sovereignty with OpenText’s highly secure solution for petabyte-scale analytics

High-performance data migration and integration

  • OpenText’s migration tools and services enable smooth transition from SaaS-only databases. ETL, batch processing, and real-time streaming support efficient data transfer.
  • Parallel processing and data compression reduce migration time and storage costs.

Cost optimization and TCO reduction

  • Avoid unpredictable cloud costs (compute, storage, and egress fees).
  • Optimize licensing models for lower total cost of ownership (TCO).
  • Supports workload elasticity with hybrid and on-prem scaling options.

Advanced analytics and AI and ML capabilities

  • Leverage in-database machine learning to train and deploy models at scale for AI-driven insights.
  • Columnar storage and MPP architecture ensure high-speed querying.
  • Run SQL queries directly on data stored in object storage (e.g., Amazon S3, HDFS, Azure Data Lake, Google Cloud Storage) .

Expert support and migration services

  • OpenText Professional Services assist with assessment, planning, and execution.
  • Automated monitoring capabilities reduce operational burden.
  • 24/7 enterprise-grade support for ongoing optimization and troubleshooting.

The cloud repatriation shift: What the data tells us

200+ global IT and infrastructure leaders share why they’re pulling workloads back on premises. Get the insights shaping the next infrastructure shift.

Get the guide

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