Data Repatriation Coming Down from the Cloud High

The migration of data to public cloud providers is a prevailing trend among businesses seeking scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency. However, as organizations continue to grapple with the evolving landscape of cloud computing, the concept and practice of data repatriation has emerged. Data repatriation involves bringing backup/replicated data down from public cloud providers back to on-premises data storage solutions, like Net2Vault. While the allure of the cloud is undeniable, moving to the cloud has its issues: complexity, compartmentalization, data sovereignty, and of course, cost.

One of the drivers prompting data repatriation is the realization of the downside of relying solely on big cloud providers. While these providers offer robust infrastructure and advanced services, they also introduce new concerns, such as data compartmentalization. In many cases, data is managed by the same system administrators for both on-prem and in-cloud. In a high availability world, this is a single point of failure. One admin can make a mistake and impact both production and backup. There is a strategic reason companies have long outsourced disaster recovery and backup, and it's not just cost. Also, despite the stringent security measures implemented by cloud providers, they make mistakes too. Some estimates state that over 80% of disaster recovery events are due to human error. One search for leaky AWS data buckets will show you why.

Many reasons are driving the return of data to on-prem, including complexity. As organizations seek to seamlessly transition data between disparate environments, interoperability issues, latency concerns, and data consistency become formidable obstacles. The complexity of managing data across hybrid or multi-cloud environments multiplies.

Data repatriation represents a strategic imperative for organizations seeking to strike a balance between the benefits of cloud computing and the imperative of data management. While cloud solutions are enticing, the complexities and risks associated with data compartmentalization, technical challenges, and cybersecurity underscore the importance of a holistic approach to data management. By embracing the combination of on-prem and Net2Vault data management, businesses can find the right mix of storage, optimize access to technologies, and maintain data sovereignty.