Re: Hmm...
"I'd think that it makes sense to leverage something like AWS rather than pay vast amounts to build and run your own infrastructure in this particular case.”
I would say that, in this case, the opposite is true. $300m+ a year can buy you an awful lot of your own infrastructure. Cloud services do not make a loss so, with a bill that big, significant savings are probably available from going in-house.
…And allows you to avoid using your competitors’ platforms too - avoiding a potentially major risk.
However, when rolling out new services, the great elasticity of current cloud providers can help you quickly produce a fast scaling application and, if the need arises, assess what sized datacentres you would need if you considered bringing your apps in-house in the future.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
