Setting up databases, sometimes with clusters or other high availability approaches, and including the correct disk type and networking requirements, can be challenging. For years, this skill set, often referred to as a database administrator (DBA), was one that required very skilled and experienced professionals to do correctly. The cloud does not change this, and those same DBAs are needed to install, configure, and manage database platforms. In the early days of the cloud, this was the approach taken as companies moved or developed workloads in the cloud, self-managing their software. Using virtual instances, ISV vendor software, and experienced professionals, most workloads can be run just the same in the cloud as they did on-premises.

Using open source packages and having access to the latest technology is one reason that companies can still manage their own software. While cloud vendors innovate fast, they still take some time to get a production-ready version of a hot new technology, so to shorten the time to market with that technology, companies will choose to do this themselves. Other reasons for companies to do this is that they feel they have a strong competency in a specific package or pattern, and prefer to own the setup and management of that software. The more complex or mission critical a software package, the more difficult and expensive the resources will be to manage it.