Should we move to the Cloud?

As an application manager, you will often take on new development projects where the servers haven't been procured or even setup.

In many data centers, this could take several weeks to purchase, install and configure a server environment just for an integrated development environment or a separate quality assurance environment.

You're heard about "The Cloud" and are interested pursuing cloud based hosting for your application.

1.  What are some of the benefits to adopting a cloud-based environment?

2. What are some of the concerns?

3.  If you were outsourcing your servers to another hosting company other than your own company's network, is there really a difference?