The cloud, while expensive, gives flexibility. We had x machines running at a space where you rack machines. First it took 3 weeks to decide what we needed, th

The cloud, while expensive, gives flexibility. We had x machines running at a space where you rack machines. First it took 3 weeks to decide what we needed, then 3 weeks to get a quote for new machines, then 3 weeks of negotiating and penny pinching because this was a 3 year lease. Then it took 3 months for them to get the machines in there. In the cloud it's 3 clicks and you have the servers, and even better, scale on demand once you have good metrics in place. Flexibility has a cost. But not being able to do anything also has a cost.