According to a recent study by Citrix, a business unit of Cloud Software Group, 42% of organizations surveyed in the United States are considering or already have moved at least half of their cloud-based workloads back to on-premises infrastructures, a phenomenon known as cloud repatriation.

The survey, which questioned 350 IT leaders in the United States on their current hybrid cloud strategies, showed that 94% of respondents had been involved with a cloud repatriation project in the last three years.

Cloud repatriations: Drivers and experiences

Unexpected security issues (41%) and high project expectations (29%) were reported as the top drivers for moving some cloud-based workloads back to on-premises infrastructures. Another major driver was the failure to meet or properly set internal expectations, accounting for 23%. After reflecting on their experience, IT leaders found that the most common reasons for cloud repatriation projects were security concerns, unexpected costs, performance issues, compatibility problems, and service downtime.

Over 29% of IT leaders found that moving projects from on-premises to the cloud was more expensive than expected, while 65% said it was financially predictable. The cost-benefit analysis of cloud versus on-premises infrastructure varies greatly depending on the organization.

Despite previously unsuccessful cloud projects, 70% of respondents are still encouraged to start new projects in the future. Instead of a complete cloud approach, IT leaders would recommend a mix of ‘mostly cloud and some on-premises' to the CIO. "Hybrid cloud infrastructures offer the best of both worlds across both public and private models. Organizations can optimize costs, seamlessly integrate systems, and experiment with innovation projects without compromising on agility or flexibility," said Calvin Hsu, Vice President of Product Management at Citrix

Hybrid security: Concerns and strategies

As IT leaders consider utilizing a hybrid strategy, a key consideration is whether cloud or on-premises is the most secure for safeguarding sensitive information. In Citrix's study, 31% of respondents stated that they had fallen victim to the same number of cyberattacks regardless of whether data and applications were hosted on-premises or in a hybrid environment. The experience of security vulnerabilities varied among different organizations, with some reporting fewer incidents on-premises while others experienced more.

Security is a top priority, and 93% of IT leaders agreed that cloud technologies can help prevent cybersecurity incidents. Moving workloads and cloud repatriation projects can pose a risk, and IT leaders are worried that these projects could make them vulnerable to a cyberattack. With benefits to both cloud and on-premises infrastructures, 50% of these IT leaders currently have projects in both cloud and on-premises.

"It's clear that IT leaders are still trying to find the right balance between cloud and on-premises," Hsu added. "With evolving demands and unexpected changes to priorities, enterprises need a model that allows them to scale resources up or down as required while maintaining security, compliance, and business performance."