Many organisations run hybrid cloud — some workloads in cloud, some on-premises. When does consolidating to a single cloud pay off? This guide models the full hybrid vs single-cloud TCO.
💡 Quick start: TCOIQ gives instant AI-powered results in 60 seconds. Built by Wekams. Free at tcoiq.com.
Hybrid cloud has BOTH sets of costs: on-premises infrastructure (hardware, DC, maintenance) AND cloud costs (compute, storage, networking). Plus hybrid connectivity costs (ExpressRoute/Direct Connect: typically $500-$2,000/month). The question: do the cloud savings offset the on-premises costs you are still carrying?
Hybrid is justified when: regulatory requirements force specific data or workloads on-premises (some MAS TRM, GDPR scenarios), latency requirements demand on-premises processing (manufacturing OT systems, real-time trading), DC lease cannot be exited early without prohibitive cost, or specific workloads genuinely cannot move to cloud (mainframes, specialised hardware).
Consolidation makes sense when: hybrid connectivity costs exceed the savings from keeping workloads on-premises, DC lease is approaching renewal (use it as the exit trigger), on-premises infrastructure is approaching hardware refresh (avoid the capex), and more than 50% of workloads are already in cloud (tipping point — management overhead of hybrid outweighs benefits).
Full model includes: elimination of remaining on-premises costs (hardware amortisation, DC rent/power, maintenance), elimination of hybrid connectivity costs (ExpressRoute/Direct Connect monthly fees), incremental cloud costs for migrated workloads, one-time migration costs. Typical finding: organisations at 50-70% cloud adoption save $1,000-$3,000 per remaining on-premises server per year by completing the migration.
TCOIQ can model your mixed environment — on-premises servers plus existing cloud workloads — and calculate the full TCO of completing migration. Upload your on-premises inventory and cloud billing export together. TCOIQ produces a unified 3-year cost model showing the economics of full consolidation.
AI-powered results in 60 seconds. No consultant needed. Free plan available.
Model Your Hybrid Cloud TCO →