Understanding Data Repatriation

19 Jun 2023 by Datacenters.com Colocation

In a world where data is king, understanding how to properly manage your assets is essential for any business wanting to stay competitive. How do you best organize and maintain your data? What processes need to be in place to ensure it moves quickly between different teams within the company? And what corresponding opportunities may come from its organization and storage?  

This is where data repatriation comes into play. Having an effective plan for repatriating corporate databases can provide businesses with unparalleled insights into their operations as well as allow them access to huge volumes of useful information.  

In this blog, we'll explore the implications of what data repatriation entails and why it's an important subject for businesses to understand deeply. We'll dive into how businesses of all sizes can benefit from strategic approaches to data repatriation, and learn how they can maximize their success with proper implementation.  

By the time you've finished exploring this topic with us in this blog post, you'll be ready to apply what you've learned to your own business planning process. 

What is Data Repatriation? 

Data repatriation is the act of transferring important information from public cloud back to self-managed storage. As more companies realize the exorbitant costs associated with public cloud services, they look for less expensive alternatives—such as data repatriation.  

Businesses are increasingly turning to this option in order to monitor exactly where their personal and sensitive data resides and enjoy increased peace of mind, knowing that their data is stored offsite using private cloud or self-managed platforms.  

Data repatriation is when data stored in the cloud is moved back to its original place. Reasons for repatriation include spending too much money on the cloud, problems with how it works, needing to meet certain rules, not being ready for moving data to the cloud, networks being slow or unreliable, worries about safety of data in the cloud, and changes in compliance rules. 

Pros 

Data repatriation brings numerous cost savings benefits that make it attractive to companies of all kinds. Retaining control over information processes and servers increases security for data and reduces compliance risks.  

Being unencumbered from the technological constraints afforded by some vendors reduces vendor lock-in, while also improving communication latencies and reducing data regulatory risks. This helps to reduce cloud costs while reducing a companies changes of running afoul of regulations.  

Data center repatriation can save businesses money in several ways. Repatriating data from offshore data centers to a business's home country can reduce costs associated with compliance with local laws and regulations. This is because data protection laws vary by country, and businesses must comply with the specific regulations of each country where their data is stored. By repatriating data to a single location, businesses can simplify their compliance efforts and avoid penalties for non-compliance. 

Additionally, repatriating data can reduce costs associated with data transfer and storage. Offshore data centers may charge higher fees for data storage and transfer due to the additional costs associated with managing data across multiple countries. Repatriating data to a single location can help businesses negotiate better pricing with data center providers and reduce overall data management costs. 

Cons 

Data repatriation is not without its drawbacks, one major disadvantage being the need to allocate a budget to purchase the necessary hardware. Additionally, hiring an in-house IT team for management is also an expensive endeavor.  

If a company opts for data repatriation, it may disrupt team harmony as group roles would inevitably shift and new structures implemented. Additionally, the potential loss of speed or performance resulting from data repatriation cannot be ignored.  

Most importantly, implementing such changes means forfeiting quick provisioning and instant scaling that often accompanies using external service providers. Businesses should consider the pros and cons of data repatriation carefully before making a final decision. Our concierge team is available for no cost consultations to assist with this decision making process.  

Colocation and Data Repatriation 

While data repatriation and traditional colocation services both involve the use of data centers, they are fundamentally different in their objectives. Data repatriation focuses on the process of moving data from a foreign country back to its country of origin, while data center colocation services refer to the rental of space in a data center to house hardware. 

However, there are some similarities between these two concepts. Both data repatriation and colocation services aim to provide businesses with secure and reliable storage options for their data. 

By using colocation services, businesses can ensure that their data remains accessible and secure, while also benefiting from the high levels of power, cooling, and connectivity offered by data centers. Similarly, data repatriation aims to help businesses comply with legal and regulatory requirements, ensuring that their data is stored in accordance with data protection laws. 

In summary, data repatriation and traditional colocation services both offer valuable solutions for businesses looking to store their data securely. While their objectives may differ, they both play an important role in the data management strategies of modern businesses. 

Connect with our Concierge Team  

When considering data repatriation, it is important to monitor cloud resource usage and compare costs to alternative storage methods, determine which data to repatriate and the optimal hosting environment, consider the team's skill level and perform a cost-benefit analysis, and plan for app architecture updates and extensive testing. 

Repatriating corporate databases can present remarkable and unprecedented opportunities to unlock immense amounts of valuable data. Companies stand to benefit from cost reduction, improved security, flexibility that eliminates vendor lock-in, meet latency goals, and comply with data regulations.  

Unfortunately, repatriation requires large initial investments in hardware as well also necessitates new or existing personnel for effectively managing IT affairs. Teams must be mindful of any change in team chemistry or suffer potential decreases in speed or performance while losing the short-term advantages of quick provisioning and instant scaling.  

Working with an established organization like Datacenters.com can smooth out the repatriation process by providing expertise as well as eliminate the learning curve. Connect with our team today for a no cost consultation and explore how your business can gain insight from unlocking your own unrestricted database access points! 

Author

Datacenters.com Colocation

Datacenters.com provides consulting and engineering support around colocation and has developed a platform for Datacenter Colocation providers to compete for your business. It takes just 2-3 minutes to create and submit a customized colocation RFP that will automatically engage you and your business with the industry leading datacenter providers in the world. 

Datacenters.com provides a platform to view and research all the datacenter locations and compare and analyze the different attributes of each datacenter. Check out our Colocation Marketplace to view pricing from top colocation providers.  

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