GuideCloud · 6 min
Should we bring workloads back from the public cloud?
Bring back the steady, data-heavy workloads that cost more to rent than to run, keep the ones built on cloud services, and price both homes before you move.
The Clectiv team ·
Repatriation means bringing a workload back from the public cloud to a place you control. Some workloads belong where they are, and some never should have left. Price both homes before anything moves.
Which workloads are worth bringing back?#
The steady, data-heavy ones. A workload that runs flat out all month, or sends a lot of data out of the cloud, can cost more to rent than to run. The public cloud earns its price on work that swings, and on work built on its own services.
Four questions sort your workloads:
- Does it run flat, or swing? Flat is the case for coming home.
- How much data leaves? Moving data out of a cloud is billed, and heavy movers feel it most.
- Is it built on cloud-only services? Managed databases and serverless code (small pieces of code the cloud runs for you) don't come along without a rewrite.
- How long will you need it? A short project rarely justifies a move.
Leave alone what's about to change. A workload you plan to rebuild soon shouldn't move twice.
Often it's a mix. Some workloads stay, some come home, and your own numbers decide which.
Before you call anyone#
Your workloads go into Clectiv AI before any data center or cloud provider hears about them. Then Clectiv AI runs the process, the providers that fit bid and compete for it, and you choose who wins. Call one first and you hear the case for its own home, with nothing to compare it to.
Where do they go: our own data center, colocation, or a private cloud?#
You've got three homes, and they differ in who owns what. Colocation means you rent space, power and cooling in a provider's data center and bring your own servers. A private cloud means a provider runs servers dedicated to you.
| Home | What it is | What you carry |
|---|---|---|
| Your own data center | A building you run | Everything: space, power, cooling and hardware |
| Colocation | Your servers, in a provider's building | The hardware, and the people to run it |
| Private cloud | The provider's servers, dedicated to you | Less hardware and a monthly price |
Here's who plays in each. Rackspace, 11:11 Systems, DataBank and 365 Data Centers all sell private cloud. Flexential, TierPoint, CoreSite and Csquare sell data center space for your own servers.
That's who we work with in cloud, and Clectiv AI runs the process for you, start to finish: start a project.
You're not starting cold. Clectiv AI runs the process we built with other customers, so you start where they left off. With the plan going straight to these providers, you get the best pricing, terms and contract we can.
Ask who runs it day to day. In your own data center, you do. In colocation, the provider runs the building, and its people on site (remote hands) can cover the gaps.
In a private cloud, the provider runs the servers too.
Often it ends up hybrid: public and private cloud, run as one. The plan says where the line sits.
The plan decides which home each workload gets. Write down what runs where with Clectiv AI, and the providers that fit price each home on the same list.
What does the move cost, and what does it save?#
Count both sides, over the whole term, not one month. The cloud bill stops for what you move. A new bill starts, and so do one-time costs.
- The new home. Hardware you buy, space and power you rent, or a monthly private cloud price.
- The move itself. Moving the data, the migration work, and running both places during the overlap.
- The people. Someone has to patch, monitor and back up what's now yours.
- What stops. The cloud bill for what left, including the fees for data leaving.
The plan asks the rest, from a private link to the clouds you keep to what leaving early costs.
Check what you've already promised the cloud. Moving work out lowers your spend against any commitment you've made to it.
One hint: price the overlap. Running both homes for a while is where move budgets slip.
The plan asks the rest, from backup to security, so every price covers the same ground. Then you see what the move saves, with the receipts.
Common questions#
What is cloud repatriation?#
Is it cheaper to leave the public cloud?#
What should we keep in the public cloud?#
Do we need our own data center to bring workloads back?#
How do we plan a move out of the cloud?#
How does Clectiv AI get this done?#
First stop: Clectiv AI. Tell it what you run in the public cloud and what it costs to keep it there. It scopes your move with you and writes your plan: what stays, what comes home, and where each piece goes.
Then the Clectiv team takes your plan to the data center and private cloud providers that fit, all at once, through our partner network of 620+ providers. They each bid, they compete on the same plan, and the team pushes on terms until you choose.
Companies before you did the hard part. Clectiv AI runs the process we've run for other customers, so you start where they ended up. Taking the plan straight to the providers that fit is how you get the best pricing, terms and contract we can.
The whole thing is free to you, and it takes days, not months. Everything we cover in cloud is on the cloud page.
If part of what's coming back runs on VMware, read how to get leverage back on VMware without replatforming.
Sources and method. No prices or savings figures appear in this guide; the drivers are described, not priced. Provider names are examples of who sells private cloud and data center space, from Clectiv's provider directory, not a ranking.