What CISOs Need to Consider as Cloud Repatriation Trend Grows

This guest post was contributed by Uwe Geuss, CTO, Retarus

Enterprise security leaders are under pressure from multiple angles. They are expected to curb rising cloud costs, shore up defenses against savvy threat actors, and still help drive innovation. With 84 percent of organizations naming cloud cost management as their top hurdle, decision-makers are reconsidering where critical workloads should belong. 

Some, including Geico and Dropbox, have already brought services back on-premises in search of savings. Yet full repatriation could introduce hidden security gaps and hefty compliance burdens. 

CISOs need to understand the risks associated with all-in-one on-premise moves. A security-first hybrid plan that aligns each workload with its optimal environment offers a balanced approach under budget pressures.

Hidden Cyber Risks of Cloud Repatriation

Opting out of public cloud entirely could be a significant step backward in terms of security.  Public cloud’s highly available infrastructure helps reduce the risk of outages or performance issues thanks to redundant data centers and professional disaster recovery solutions. Without these, organizations face serious data loss, financial consequences and damage to their reputation.

They also lose access to the advanced security frameworks and compliance services provided by public cloud vendors. These are particularly essential in highly-regulated industries such as healthcare and banking, where these frameworks and certificates are mandatory for businesses to remain compliant with regulations such as HIPAA, HITRUST and SOC I and II.

If they are to protect themselves from attack and stay in regulatory compliance, businesses returning to on-premise infrastructure will need to shoulder these complex and costly responsibilities. That could undermine any short-term savings gained by leaving the public cloud. 

Embracing a Security-First Hybrid Model

The downsides of on-premise infrastructure do not imply that public cloud is without faults or that legacy systems are always a poor choice. Over the past two decades, enterprise IT teams have shifted workloads between on-premise and cloud environments to discover what works best for their needs. Repatriation of selected applications is one facet of this ongoing evolution, not a wholesale rejection of cloud services.

At the same time, cloud infrastructure remains the leading option for many workloads, with messaging being a prime example. Organizations still migrate messaging services to the cloud because it delivers the availability and reliability needed to handle spikes in volume. Reputable cloud providers also hold and stay up-to-date with industry-specific certifications to ensure data remains compliant with relevant regulations. In practice, cloud-based messaging often leads to better cost control and stronger service levels for email, SMS, and fax communications. 

Retarus recognized this early. The company built its enterprise messaging solution on cloud infrastructure while ensuring seamless integration with on-premise and hybrid environments, as well as with existing systems such as SAP, Microsoft 365 and Salesforce. This design delivers a secure and reliable experience for any organization that relies on messaging for critical business processes.

Ultimately, striking the right balance between cost control and security resilience is not a binary choice but a continuous journey. By understanding the hidden risks of full repatriation and adopting a workload-based, security-first hybrid model, organizations can harness cloud agility without sacrificing on-site strength.