25% of organizations surveyed in the UK have moved half or more of their cloud-based workloads back to on-premises infrastructure or are considering doing so, a phenomenon known as cloud migration.
That’s according to a recent study by Citrix, a business unit of Cloud Software Group, in which 350 IT leaders were asked about their current hybrid cloud strategies. The survey showed that 93% of respondents had participated in a cloud repatriation program in the past three years.
Cloud repatriation: drivers and lessons learned
Unexpected security issues and high project expectations (33%) were reported as the main reasons for moving some cloud-based workloads back to on-premises infrastructure. Another major driver is the failure to meet or correctly set internal expectations, at 24%. After reflecting on their experiences, IT leaders found that the most common reasons for cloud repatriation projects were security issues, unexpected costs, performance issues, compatibility issues, and service outages.
More than 43% of IT leaders found that moving projects from on-premises to the cloud was more expensive than expected, while 54% said it was financially predictable. The cost-benefit analysis of cloud versus on-premises infrastructure varies by organization.
Even though previous cloud projects were not successful, 67% of respondents still encourage the launch of new projects in the future. IT leaders will recommend to CIOs a hybrid approach of “mostly cloud and some on-premises” rather than a full cloud approach.
Calvin Hsu, vice president of product management at Citrix, said: “Hybrid cloud infrastructure provides the best of both worlds in public and private models. Organizations can optimize costs, seamlessly integrate systems and experiment with innovative projects without compromising agility or flexibility. “
Hybrid Security: Issues and Strategies
When IT leaders consider a hybrid strategy, a key consideration is whether the cloud or on-premises is most secure for protecting sensitive information. In the Citrix study, 33% of respondents said they fell victim to the same number of cyberattacks regardless of whether data and applications were hosted on-premises or in a hybrid environment. Experience with security breaches varies across organizations, with some reporting fewer local incidents and others reporting more incidents.
Security is a top priority, with 77% of IT leaders believing cloud technology can help prevent cybersecurity incidents. Mobile workloads and cloud repatriation projects can pose risks, and IT leaders are concerned that these projects may leave them vulnerable to cyberattacks. Leveraging the advantages of cloud and on-premises infrastructure, 35% of IT leaders currently have projects in both the 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. “As requirements continue to evolve and priorities shift unexpectedly, enterprises need a model that allows them to scale resources up or down as needed while maintaining security, compliance and business performance.
The survey was commissioned by OnePoll, the Cloud Software Group’s Citrix business unit. The study surveyed 1,200 business and IT leaders from companies with revenues in excess of $500 million in the UK, US, France and Germany. The data reflected in this press release is based on part of a survey covering 350 business and IT leaders in the UK.
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