If you add bandwidth and storage to one side of the equation you'll also have to add it on the other side. Do you get the bandwidth cheaper elsewhere? Perhaps

If you add bandwidth and storage to one side of the equation you'll also have to add it on the other side. Do you get the bandwidth cheaper elsewhere? Perhaps but probably not significantly. Do you get storage with similar flexibility and scalability cheaper elsewhere? Highly unlikely. Oh and housing, power and staff aren't free either. Neither are the premium support contracts with your various suppliers to get same-day replacements for failed hardware. Once you factor everything in you'll realize that EC2 is not nearly as expensive as it may seem at a glance.