I'm not saying you're wrong, but why do you call that the cloud again? Mutualized hosting is what we've been doing since "forever". The part where i disagree:

I'm not saying you're wrong, but why do you call that the cloud again? Mutualized hosting is what we've been doing since "forever". The part where i disagree: don't go with Microsoft or Google, they're the worst. They've got less-than-stellar service, abysmal support, and they're capitalist assholes. Go with a local tech coop or non-profit (or even just a local tech artisan for-profit company) with friendly support. I think it's been said in many other threads, but it's always worth repeating: by using Microsoft/Google email services, you make it impossible for others to use a solution of their choice because they will be blocked despite having perfect server configuration.