Repatriation in cloud computing refers to moving workloads from the public cloud to on-premise infrastructure. Sarah Wang and Martin Casado from Andreessen Horowitz have written one of the most popular articles about repatriation: they explain the motivation with the significant cost savings possible. For software-based businesses, public cloud spend can rise to 50% of the cost of revenue (COR). Reducing these costs has the potential for significant margin increases.
The idea of repatriation is often compared to a rent-or-buy decision. We all make rent-or-buy decisions for various items in our daily lives: cars, housing, or skiis during winter holidays. Every situation comes with individual constraints, but the main decision factors appear the same: if an item is being used over a more extended period, buying appears cheaper. If an item needs customisation, buying such an item seems to be more appropriate.
We could apply these simple considerations to the public cloud: if a…