This just seems like the next evolution of the accidental DBA to me.  Amazon and many other vendors are trying to offer these easy to use systems, and for many smaller companies these are acceptable solutions.  For them the low cost of a somewhat idiot proof system is worth not having a skilled DBA on staff even if it means the occasional rework is needed to recover from a recovery.  If these companies ever grow to the size they usually hope, that is when these types of solutions become more problematic.  To answer your question Steve, out of the two options I would generally prefer the Azure method because it gives me more control and I think I might better understand the consequences of the Amazon method and the limitations of both methods.