Cloud in house: Maximising ROI by adding on-premise into your cloud mix

In years to come, March 2020 will be remembered for one thing and one thing only – the start of the first lockdown. It was the ultimate shock as businesses fought to remain operational and connected while also scrambling to facilitate a practical way for staff to work remotely as strict social distancing rules were brought in overnight.

For any business that hadn’t already started developing a cloud strategy, the public cloud was considered the only viable option. The low barrier to entry and ease of use meant it could be rolled out quickly and with minimal staff training required. Given the urgency, there was also limited time to explore the pros and cons of alternative approaches. Platforms like Azure and AWS suddenly became crucial lifelines to businesses.

For those early months of the pandemic, it was a case of needs must. But the situation has now evolved and we have moved beyond the constraints of the pandemic, and the complex geopolitical and economic situations have led to prices increasing across the board.

The nature of what organisations need from their cloud infrastructure has changed and businesses now have time to properly assess the full suite of options that are out there and question if it is right for where they are right now. Such considerations have combined to bring about a new trend – declouding.

Declouding (or unclouding as it’s also known) involves organisations moving some of their workloads from the public cloud to on-premises, colocation or private cloud. As more infrastructure solutions open up, organisations have a greater opportunity to develop a more fulsome holistic approach to their cloud strategy. Finding the right combination that works best is no simple task and shouldn’t be rushed though.

Assessing your situation

Irrespective of if you are declouding or kick starting another digital transformation programme, first things first, when looking at your IT infrastructure, you need to take a step back and look at your business in the round. Conducting a comprehensive audit of your existing data and infrastructure requirements is the first step and will help to identify what you really need. Bespoke apps, programmes that require legacy equipment and tasks that have heavy latency requirements should all be identified at this stage, as they may require a more bespoke approach.

All this information should allow you to start shaping your strategy in a way that suits your business, rather than just according to what is fastest and easiest. Not only this, but it will allow you to better understand what workloads might be better suited to which location.

Options to consider

When done right, this approach almost inevitably leads to the conclusion that a hybrid strategy is best. In other words, using the right clouds for the right data. This approach involves a combination of on-premise, colocation, private, and public cloud components, enabling businesses to harness the benefits of each element, maximising the value they get from their investment.

The lockdown inspired rush to the public cloud meant a few tough – and often expensive – lessons as organisations learnt that one size does not fit all. By taking the time and space (and not putting all their eggs in one cloud shaped basket), organisations can achieve a more balanced and resilient cloud environment.

As the pandemic’s impact became less intense, many predicted that the future lay in the cloud and on- premise was a thing of the past, but those reports were premature. In June 2023, David Heinemeier Hansson, CEO of $100 billion project management software company Basecamp, announced that his business successfully moved away from the public cloud, and that owning their own hardware would save them $1.5m per year, against their previous arrangement with AWS. However, a business doesn’t have to be a multinational to achieve savings with on-premise.

Not only is on-premise the obvious cost saver, the data protection element is a major asset that attracts businesses. Having full control over your data and its security puts everyone’s mind at ease – both for internal and external stakeholders. Much like when faced with the common issue of having problems with connection to the internet, on-premise eliminates that worry by enabling staff to access data seamlessly.

On-premise also allows for customisation to be tailored entirely to suit a business’s need, from optimising workflow to streamlining operations.  

Maximising value from on premise infrastructure

For many businesses, the cost of investing in brand new infrastructure can be prohibitive. In fact, in many instances, there’s very limited value in purchasing new equipment. As an alternative, refurbished hardware equipment offers a more budget-friendly, but equally reliable, option which doesn’t compromise on performance.

Typically, if you are comparing a current server to a refurbished option on a like-for-like basis, it wouldn’t be uncommon to save about 70-75%. What’s more, many refurbished IT manufacturers can also offer a payment plan to help spread the cost. And there’s no sacrifice when it comes to peace of mind either as your warranty can usually be added to the finance package too.

Additionally, we all know that the impact from the global supply chain and chip crisis has caused a lot of delays for manufacturers across the board, and with there still being a hangover, refurbished IT is a reliable alternative with shipping times usually measured in days rather than months.

Maximising cloud benefits

In the past, the public cloud was seen as the obvious and superior choice, causing the demand for on-premises solutions to decline. While the overall trend still favours the public cloud, and by no means is this going to change overnight. But it’s definitely a case of not believing everything you read, and the situation is certainly more complex than many would have you believe.

Businesses must take a more measured approach when mapping out their cloud infrastructure, and if declouding is a route worth exploring, perhaps due to the cost implications of the cloud – the refurbished IT equipment market could open a more approachable door when looking to invest on-premise.