One reason is that people throw cloud around like it’s one thing. 37Signals closed most of its private datacenters too. 37Signals left the PUBLIC cloud. They are using a colocation service that does their HVAC, electrical, networking, etc. The “cloud” is way more than someone else’s computer; it’s the whole infrastructure.
The other reasons people are leaving the public cloud is they are running servers there! That’s way more expensive. Lift and shift is going to cost you a ton. Geico pissed away 50% first by not rearchitecting. Utilizing the cloud properly requires rearchitecting and there wasn’t time during the pandemic to do so.
Meanwhile, the non-profit Signal says they can’t afford NOT to run in the cloud. Why’s that?
One of the most private and secure systems in the world uses the public cloud. How can this be?
Meredith has a very good, but very different point about the hyperscalers that run the public cloud. It’s far too concentrated. That’s where people should be concerned.
I’ve had the computer room. Yeah, it’s fast. One bad fire or employee sabotage and you’re ____ed. How long did it take to buy servers and network equipment during the pandemic? How much to buy RAM for a new server today if water poured into the computer room? The hyperscalers and AI companies have all the RAM. Now what are you going to do?
Sitting on either extreme of all public cloud or all on-prem has a lot more risk than sitting somewhere inbetween.