Portability Was Always the Point

David Azaria discusses the limitations of the cloud era's promises of elasticity and managed operations, highlighting the overlooked challenge of operational portability in data management. The cloud solved compute scalability but often trapped users within a single vendor’s ecosystem, making true portability elusive. While data format portability has been achieved through open table formats like Iceberg and Delta Lake, the real challenge lies in operational portability, where managed services can operate where the data resides, such as with Starburst's Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC) model. This model allows organizations to maintain managed operations within their own cloud infrastructure, accommodating diverse regulatory and security needs without forcing data to relocate. Azaria argues for a shift in architecture that prioritizes the proximity of compute to data, reflecting the industry's need for platforms that adapt to data's location rather than requiring data to conform to platform constraints. This approach is increasingly relevant in today's fragmented data landscape, where enterprises face diverse data residency and regulatory challenges that demand flexible deployment models.