Even for large organizations, the most compelling argument for the cloud is capital structure and the risks associated with holding assets that may not prove to be productive. We inherently understand the advantage of the cloud for startups. It preserves capital and can be used to links expense to generated value (user engagement, etc) if not actual revenue. What may be less obvious is that the same math applies for at least some activities of larger organizations. What goes into a corporate data center is effectively a distressed asset the instant the capacity isn't needed. Forecast risk is very real, and even conservative estimates of that risk can radically change the risk adjusted return on the capital investment.