Two delivery models, one account system: where cloud ends and private deployment begins
Cloud service and private deployment are not two products. They are two delivery models for the same capability — and the boundary decides whether customers ever have to switch systems.
A common question during selection: we use the cloud today, but data may have to stay in our own data centre later — do we need to replace the system?
If the answer is yes, cloud and private deployment were built as separate lines.
Where the boundary belongs
Capabilities, APIs and data models stay identical. Only the deployment location, operational responsibility and metering differ. Moving to private deployment then means changing a server address and credentials, not rewriting business code.
The account system is the deciding factor
Accounts, AppIDs, keys and callback configuration are management-plane concepts. If cloud and private deployment each have their own, the migration cost lands on the customer.
Sharing one conceptual model for the management plane is what makes both delivery models viable.
What it means for buyers
You do not have to bet on the future. Choose the delivery model that fits today; when scale or regulation changes, what changes is the deployment shape, not the product.