When it comes to cloud computing, most of the attention is focused on migration—moving workloads and data into the cloud, chasing promises of scalability, agility, and cost savings. But what we don’t hear about nearly as often are the projects going in the other direction: enterprises quietly moving data and workloads back out of the cloud, a process known as cloud repatriation. Here’s the reality most people rarely discuss: a staggering 98 percent of cloud repatriation projects are handled in secret. In many cases, these initiatives aren’t just kept quiet externally—they’re often shielded from employees and, sometimes, even from leadership outside of the core IT or operations teams.

 

Why such secrecy? For many organizations, admitting to repatriating workloads is seen as an acknowledgment that the original cloud migration was a misstep. There’s a fear of reputational risk, internal embarrassment, and scrutiny from stakeholders. Furthermore, unless there’s a strong marketing or financial incentive—like a technology partner offering deep discounts for going public—there’s simply no business advantage to sharing these details. In this video, I’ll break down why most enterprises keep their cloud repatriations in the shadows, and explore what this means for the future of cloud strategy.