I'm not going to say that there aren't advantages, but when you start doing anything non-trivial with system configuration you'll find that the "infrastructure

I'm not going to say that there aren't advantages, but when you start doing anything non-trivial with system configuration you'll find that the "infrastructure as code" approach also involves a large amount of work. Having done plenty of both in my career I don't think it's fair to say that IaC is at all less time consuming than traditional system administration. The advantages it comes with can also pretty easily come out to a wash if you don't plan around to some extent. I guess what I'm saying is that, just like "cloud means cost savings" doesn't necessarily pan out, "cloud means time savings" also doesn't necessarily pan out. The best strategy continues to depend on your strengths, the application, etc.