Why Cloud Repatriation is Back on the Table in 2025 (and How to Do It Right)

For years, the narrative has been clear: go to the cloud or get left behind. But in 2025, we’re seeing a surprising twist—some companies are moving workloads back to on-premises infrastructure. It's not a reversal of innovation. It's a strategic recalibration.

If you’ve been staring at spiraling cloud bills, performance bottlenecks, or compliance headaches, you're not alone. Cloud repatriation is no longer a taboo—it's a growing trend. In this post, I’ll break down why it's happening, when it makes sense, and how to do it without breaking things or losing sleep.

Why Repatriation Is on the Rise Again

Here are a few reasons cloud repatriation is regaining and seems to always be the topic of conversations:

Cloud Bills That Make Your CFO Cry

Cloud spend often grows quietly until one day... it doesn’t. At scale, many teams are shocked to realize they’re spending more on cloud than they would on colo or self-hosted bare metal. What comprises the charges?

• Egress costs

• Over-provisioned instances

• Always-on services that should’ve been event-driven

All of it adds up fast, especially when apps and infrastructure is really not optimized for the cloud.

Vendor Lock-In and Limited Control