I'm not saying that running your own servers is always easier, nor is my stance one of emotional based paranoia. I'm saying that "private cloud" products that

I'm not saying that running your own servers is always easier, nor is my stance one of emotional based paranoia. I'm saying that "private cloud" products that you host yourself could be just as easy to setup and use as cloud-based products if developers wanted to build those products. Instead they want to nickel-and-dime everyone for every business function while retaining absolute control over access to the product. SAAS can absolutely be more expensive in the long run. (EDIT: Coincidentally, gmail is down again today.)