Cloud vs On-Premise: What's Right for Your .NET App?

Choosing between cloud and on-premise infrastructure for your modernized .NET application is one of the most important architectural decisions you'll make.

Cloud Benefits

Cost Optimization: Pay only for resources you use. Auto-scaling ensures you're not over-provisioned during off-peak hours.

Disaster Recovery: Cloud providers offer built-in redundancy and backup systems that would be prohibitively expensive on-premise.

Global Reach: Deploy applications closer to users worldwide without building physical data centers.

On-Premise Considerations

Regulatory Requirements: Some industries have strict data residency requirements that mandate on-premise infrastructure.

Predictable Costs: For stable workloads, on-premise can offer more predictable monthly costs.

Full Control: Some organizations prefer complete control over their infrastructure and security policies.

The Hybrid Approach

Many insurance and financial services companies benefit from a hybrid model: sensitive data on-premise with processing and analytics in the cloud.

Migration Path

You don't have to decide immediately. Many organizations start with a cloud-based development and testing environment while keeping production on-premise, then gradually shift production workloads as confidence grows.

Cost Analysis Framework

Compare total cost of ownership over 3-5 years, not just monthly fees. Include staffing, maintenance, security, and disaster recovery in your analysis.