Sys admin should only feel threatened if...
If they do not retool themselves. This is the cost of being in this business. It changes rapidly. Cloud will not totally eliminate IT staff but it will refocus existing staff and yes some will lose their jobs. What I call the "babysitters" will have to find work. Those who merely baby sit servers all day waiting for something to go wrong. I see them all of the time. They don't go out of their way to learn new technologies or update certifications. They are also resistant to any kind of change. Those who learn how to focus their skills on the core functions of the business instead of the technology itself will be valuable to that business. Those who don't will need to look for another line of work.
It's similar to the arguments against virtualization many years ago. I witnessed this myself. "If there are less physical servers to manage what will happen to my job?" The answer was simple. You better learn virtualization! Same thing. Understand what the cloud is and how to position yourself to take advantage of the opportunity! Otherwise, yes, be very afraid.
It's not hype anymore. We thorughly debunk that argument here: http://www.lucidsolutionsgroup.com/blog/bid/59274/Cloud-Computing-The-Future-or-Marketing-Hype
Biting the hand that feeds IT
