Beyond the Cloud: The Shift in Deployment Strategy

As someone who has spent nearly two decades in the real-time communication (RTC) space, I've watched firsthand how the world of deployment has evolved. When I started, everything was about building on-premises infrastructure from scratch. Then came the cloud revolution—fast, scalable, cost-effective. It changed the game. But now, I'm seeing a new shift, and it's coming from the ground up, driven by something much bigger than cost or convenience: control.

More and more of our customers are asking the same questions. “Where is my data going?” “Can I keep this in-country?” “How do I make sure my app is secure, private, and compliant with local laws?” The answer isn't always the cloud. In fact, many are realizing that to truly own the experience—and the responsibility—they need to rethink how they deploy their real-time platforms.

The Rise of Data Sovereignty and Localization

Data sovereignty isn’t just a buzzword anymore. It’s a dealbreaker. At LiveSwitch, we work with companies around the globe, and nearly every conversation now starts with questions about data residency and compliance.

• In the EU, GDPR mandates that personal data of EU citizens be stored and processed within the EU or in compliant jurisdictions.
• In Canada, provinces like Quebec and British Columbia have taken localization even further, demanding that certain types of personal data never leave the country.
• In Australia, the Privacy Act and the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme require organizations to take steps to ensure personal data is stored securely and within compliant environments.
• In India, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) includes provisions for data localization and cross-border restrictions.
• In Brazil, the LGPD mandates clear rules on how and where personal data can be processed, pushing organizations to maintain stricter control over storage and transfer.
• Globally, over 100 countries now have some form of data sovereignty law. That’s not a trend—that’s a tidal wave.
  
  

If you’re building a real-time app in any of these regions, your deployment model matters. You can't just spin up a cloud server and call it a day. You need to think about where your data lives, who has access and how it’s being handled.

Security Concerns Prompting On-Premises Deployments

Compliance is one thing. Security is another. And in some industries, it’s everything.

We’ve worked with hospitals that can’t risk patient data ever touching the public cloud. Government agencies need air-gapped systems to prevent leaks. Financial institutions that want total visibility into every connection and data stream.

Here’s where on-premises deployments really shine:

• Healthcare: When dealing with electronic health records and live video consultations, HIPAA and GDPR compliance aren't optional—they're mandatory. Hosting the RTC stack locally provides confidence and control.
  
  
• Government & Defense: Agencies managing classified or sensitive data can't afford ambiguity in their infrastructure. Full-stack, behind-the-firewall deployments are often the only acceptable solution.
  
  
• Finance: From trading platforms to digital banking tools, the need for secure, auditable, and controlled RTC solutions makes on-premise the natural choice.
  
  

For many of these customers, security isn’t just about encryption. It’s about sovereignty, policy, and having a deployment model that matches their risk profile.

The Hybrid Cloud Compromise

Of course, not every organization needs—or wants—to go fully on-premise. That’s where hybrid deployments come in. And to be honest, they’re one of my favorite setups.

Hybrid cloud lets you keep sensitive components on your turf while using the cloud for elasticity, reach, or global access. We see this model a lot in:

• Telehealth: Store patient records locally, but enable remote specialists to join securely via the cloud.
  
  
• Education: Keep student data within national borders, while allowing international teachers to connect in real-time.
  
  
• Enterprise Applications: Secure the back end locally and run less sensitive workloads, like analytics or support queues, in the cloud.
  
  

This model gives you the best of both worlds: compliance and scalability.

Why LiveSwitch Is Built for This Moment

At LiveSwitch, we’ve always believed in flexibility. Our platform supports cloud, on-premise, and hybrid deployments out of the box, not as an afterthought. That means whether you're running in AWS, your own data center, or something in between, we’ve got your back.

What makes us different? A few things:

• We handle the hard parts: Real-time video and audio are complex. We’ve spent years perfecting media pipelines, codecs, scaling, and routing—so you don’t have to.
  
  
• We give you control: Want to choose how your media flows? Want to choose where your servers sit? Want to choose how your streams are encrypted and stored? Go for it. Our stack is yours to shape.
  
  
• We’re built for compliance: Whether it's GDPR, HIPAA, PHIPA, or something else entirely, we help you build applications that meet the world’s toughest privacy standards.
  
  

The Bottom Line

This isn’t just a technical shift. It’s a mindset shift.

People are reclaiming ownership of their infrastructure because they have to. Regulators are watching. Customers are demanding transparency. The risks of getting it wrong are just too high.

If you’re building real-time applications—whether it’s for healthcare, finance, government, education, or beyond—this is the moment to rethink your architecture.

Cloud might still be the right fit. Or maybe hybrid makes more sense. Maybe you need a full, on-premise solution. Wherever you land, LiveSwitch is here to support you with a platform that’s as flexible as it is powerful.

We’ll handle the RTC heavy lifting—so you can focus on building the future.

Ready to explore what deployment model is right for your app? Let’s talk.