[eropple]

> I'm sorry, what's the advantage to the cloud again?

For-most-purposes-infinite on-demand resources, provided in a format where you don't have to pay for when you aren't using it. And yes, we all know that this does mean you pay a premium for it when you need it, and (good) cloud folks understand that you have to design for that reality.

If you don't need that advantage, that's fine, but it's silly to act like it doesn't exist. Find the point where the delta in variable costs outweighs additional capex and steer your solution to that point, make peace with inefficient spending, or get out. You don't have to be weird about either extreme position.