While Jason Scott raises interesting points six years ago, the principles of data management remain the same as the days of dedicated servers with on premises systems. If you have only one copy of data and that machine goes down, then the data goes with it. In my experience in a business context &#x27;the cloud&#x27; discussion is about the business&#x27; desire to expand capacity without the need for the capital expenditure needed to buy equipment and server admin salaries. By the numbers it is just better to rent instead of buy at the infrastructure level.<p>The cloud is a murky, ambiguity-laden concept though. Both Netflix and my 92 year old grandmother on Facebook &#x27;use the cloud&#x27;, but the former is much more sophisticated in their network and data management practices. My grandmother just wants to see fun pictures of her family and great grandkids.