From reviewing the thread's discussion, it looks like businesses turn to cloud-based infrastructure for a number of reasons: 1. To outsource non-core activitie

From reviewing the thread's discussion, it looks like businesses turn to cloud-based infrastructure for a number of reasons: 1. To outsource non-core activities to experts and reduce risk, for firms that see IT as a cost center. A cost-cutting measure. 2. To provide dynamic capacity for mature businesses that experience anticipated workloads that are short-lived (seasonal or computational needs). A cost saving measure. 3. To provide dynamic capacity for new ventures growing in popularity i.e. fluctuating capacity requirements. This saves on large upfront infrastructure costs when long-term viability hasn't been established. A risk management measure. 4. To be described as "innovative" because peers are doing it, for firms that see IT as a revenue center (in industries that view such investments as a source of differentiation). A form of virtue signalling. 5. To make the accounts look good to investors by accounting for it as OPEX instead of CAPEX [0]. A seemingly irrational but valid reason. High OPEX numbers are easier to justify and more importantly, can be pared down with less friction than CAPEX, if things go south from intense competition for instance. Another risk management measure. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16458863 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16458863