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For a growing number of organisations, the default option for new IT projects is the cloud and cloud storage, with even the more cautious businesses having adopted “cloud-first” or “cloud-preferred” strategies. That’s because startups and fast-growing firms can build infrastructure in the cloud that would be hard to achieve quickly in any other way. The desire to promote the benefits of cloud can include even the vendors most often associated with on-premise technology – yet cloud is not always the right choice. CIOs have come to a more nuanced view of IT architecture, with many firms finding that the cloud is not as cheap – or even as flexible – as was once thought. There are situations where the cloud’s shortcomings mean it is not always the answer. Does cloud cost less, or more? A big draw of cloud is its reputation for saving money, but the cloud does not always cut costs. In fact, for some workloads and types of IT operations, cloud can be more expensive than on-premise systems, a conventional datacentre, or colocation. The...