The term "Cloud" can meet a number of different functional definitions. In this article's case, this was a PAAS model where you upload your code, choose the su

The term "Cloud" can meet a number of different functional definitions. In this article's case, this was a PAAS model where you upload your code, choose the supporting services, and expect a given service level in return. For some, this works great, for others - well, see the OP blog post. In my organization's case, we run all of our infrastructure "in the cloud" - mostly AWS. But, we view AWS as an infrastructure cloud provider meaning we choose the hardware available, develop and run our own stack, and go from there. We also have infrastructure with ServerBeach and 100TB.com - and, yes, we consider that "cloud" as well. Just because your code doesn't run well on a PAAS cloud provider doesn't mean that my code won't prosper on a "cloud" infrastructure provider. Here is the deal: if you've never seen, in person, the server that you are paying for - you are in the "the cloud." And that is going to be most of us out there. And for those of you that "own" your own boxes, that still doesn't mean you aren't "in the cloud" - because you probably setup your own internal cloud at that point. Edit: SAAS to PAAS