qh[/quote]

I think they have tried to give guidance in different ways. Certainly they don't limit things and some of their arguments are shaky, but they don't necessarily say the cloud solves all problems. It can work in any situation, but you have to re-code/architect for the cloud and understand it can do down.

Their argument is your DC can go down, too.[/quote]

Yes, your DC can go down too. However, being yours and under your control, you are in a position to assert lots of necessary pressure on hardware technicians, software technicians, and anyone else involved. I remember years ago when manager of a small IBM system for a local company that our system went down and the local guys were having problems keeping it running. By exerting pressure on Big Blue ourselves (for our actually IBM red box system, and being vocal we got IBM to bring in more talent, and even to fly in a replacement processor, yeah, one of those 3' x 4' x 6' processor cabinets from Florida to northern Indiana and installing it on a weekend to get our capability going again. You certainly aren't going to get that accomplished in the cloud situation. And that still begs the question of being able to control the security of your data when it's out there 'somewhere'. The only safe controllable solution is to keep your internal and external systems entirely separate, even if it means you lose some response time. As a customer, I'll sacrifice some time lag in return for safety of my data. I'll take my order confirmation tomorrow if it means you keep my personal information safe today.