Why Service Providers Are Winning Workloads Back from AWS and Azure

For years, public hyperscale clouds like AWS and Azure appeared destined to dominate the entire infrastructure market. Many organizations rushed to migrate applications and data to the public cloud, expecting greater scalability and lower operational costs.

However, by 2026 an interesting shift is underway.

A growing number of enterprises and SMBs are repatriating workloads from hyperscale clouds back to private clouds, MSP-hosted infrastructure, or hybrid environments.

This trend—often referred to as cloud repatriation, creating new opportunities for service providers. Organizations that previously relied heavily on hyperscalers are now reconsidering where workloads should run.

In this article, we explore the drivers behind this shift and how service providers are successfully attracting workloads back from AWS and Azure.

Several key factors are encouraging organizations to move workloads away from hyperscalers and into service-provider environments.

One of the most common reasons companies reconsider hyperscale clouds is cost volatility.

Public cloud pricing models can be complex and difficult to predict. Costs related to:

• data egress
• storage tiers
• premium services
• API requests
• inter-region traffic

can quickly cause monthly cloud bills to exceed expectations.

Many organizations discover that predictable workloads—such as long-running applications or internal systems—can be significantly cheaper when hosted in a private or MSP-operated environment.

Service providers often offer fixed pricing for infrastructure resources, allowing businesses to maintain predictable IT budgets.

Another driver of cloud repatriation is the desire for greater control over infrastructure.

When organizations rely on hyperscale platforms, they are one of thousands of customers sharing the same global infrastructure.

In contrast, working with a regional service provider offers:

• more flexible service agreements
• customized infrastructure configurations
• direct technical support relationships

For many organizations, this level of control improves both operational transparency and service reliability.

Regulatory compliance and data sovereignty concerns are becoming increasingly important, particularly in sectors such as finance, healthcare, and government.

Many organizations prefer hosting sensitive workloads in infrastructure that guarantees:

• local data residency
• jurisdictional compliance
• transparency around infrastructure operations

This trend aligns with the broader rise of sovereign cloud initiatives, especially across Europe.

Service providers that operate regional infrastructure are often better positioned to meet these requirements than global hyperscalers.

In some cases, workloads perform better when infrastructure is geographically closer to end users or integrated systems.

Local infrastructure providers can deliver lower latency for certain applications, especially those that depend on:

• regional data processing
• edge services
• integration with on-prem systems

This performance advantage is another reason organizations reconsider hyperscale environments for specific workloads.

Service providers that successfully attract workloads from hyperscalers typically focus on several strategic advantages.

Cost transparency is one of the strongest differentiators service providers can offer.

Rather than complex billing structures, providers often offer straightforward pricing models such as:

• monthly VM pricing
• bundled storage allocations
• predictable networking costs

This simplicity appeals to organizations frustrated by hyperscale billing complexity.

Some modern infrastructure platforms also eliminate hidden costs such as data egress fees, making cloud expenses easier to manage.

Another advantage service providers offer is bundled value-added services.

While hyperscale clouds typically charge separately for backup, monitoring, and security services, MSPs often include these capabilities within their infrastructure offerings.

This may include:

• automated backup
• malware protection
• disaster recovery
• infrastructure monitoring

Bundling these services allows providers to deliver fully protected workloads by default, increasing customer confidence while simplifying infrastructure management.

Service providers often differentiate themselves through personalized support and customer relationships.

Unlike hyperscale providers that rely heavily on self-service platforms and support ticket systems, regional providers can offer:

• dedicated account teams
• direct access to technical experts
• customized service-level agreements

This hands-on approach helps build stronger long-term partnerships with customers.

To compete with hyperscalers, service providers increasingly deploy modern cloud platforms that replicate the agility of public cloud environments.

These platforms enable providers to offer capabilities such as:

• on-demand virtual machines
• scalable storage
• software-defined networking
• multi-tenant cloud environments

By combining these capabilities with predictable pricing and personalized support, service providers create a compelling alternative to hyperscale infrastructure.

A key enabler for service providers seeking to win back workloads is having the right infrastructure platform.

Acronis Cyber Frame is designed specifically to help service providers launch and operate modern cloud infrastructure.

Cyber Frame provides:

• multi-tenant cloud architecture
• integrated cyber protection
• automated backup and disaster recovery
• infrastructure orchestration tools

Because these capabilities are integrated directly into the platform, providers can offer secure infrastructure services without deploying multiple separate solutions.

This allows service providers to deliver an experience similar to hyperscale cloud platforms while maintaining stronger cost control and operational flexibility.

Cloud repatriation is no longer an isolated trend.

Organizations across industries are reevaluating their infrastructure strategies and determining which workloads truly benefit from hyperscale environments, reflecting broader public cloud repatriation trends for MSPs in 2026.

For many workloads, regional infrastructure providers offer a better balance of:

• predictable costs
• regulatory compliance
• operational control
• performance optimization

Service providers that embrace modern infrastructure platforms are well positioned to capture this growing demand.

Workload repatriation from public clouds is becoming an increasingly important trend in the infrastructure market.

Organizations frustrated by unpredictable costs, compliance concerns, and operational limitations are exploring alternatives to hyperscale platforms.

Service providers that offer transparent pricing, bundled infrastructure services, and strong customer support can position themselves as compelling alternatives.

Platforms like Acronis Cyber Frame further strengthen this strategy by enabling providers to deliver scalable, secure infrastructure services without the complexity of traditional virtualization stacks.

For service providers looking to grow their cloud business, the repatriation trend presents a significant opportunity.

Cloud repatriation refers to the process of moving workloads from public cloud environments back to private infrastructure, hybrid environments, or service provider platforms.

Common reasons include unpredictable costs, regulatory requirements, data sovereignty concerns, and the need for more operational control.

Hyperscale clouds remain dominant, but some organizations are redistributing workloads across hybrid environments that include MSP-hosted infrastructure.

Service providers often compete by offering predictable pricing, integrated infrastructure services, local support, and compliance-friendly infrastructure.

Acronis Cyber Frame enables service providers to build multi-tenant cloud infrastructure with integrated security, backup, and disaster recovery capabilities.