Please don’t hard-code assumptions

Indeed. Most environments I worked in used static accounts, typically deployed using something like Ansible or Puppet. This of course has other issues.

> Cloud computing can probably help some what by reducing costs. Even though the per-resource expensive may be higher the convenience it offers to end users ends up saving money; when it works out.

I've often seen that the costs are a lot higher than projected, especially if you have requirements for spare capacity (HA) and your application doesn't scale well horizontally. You do have a very good point with the time saving for users, it's very easy to overlook that factor.

> Traditionally for most enterprise environments getting access to compute resources involves a lengthy ritual involving getting the attention and approval of some sysadmin somewhere, typically via some ticketing system. It's a painful and time consuming process were you are forced to justify your need in front of some jaded sysadmin looking for some excuse to shoot you down or change how you want to do things.

Not only a sysadmin but also often someone who is actually allowed to spend money, even if it's not "real money" in a sense that the hardware is already paid for. I would say though that it may often be advisable to fix the sysadmins or remove them from the process. This BOFH obstructionist attitude that some people bring really isn't helping things - of course that's usually an issue with overall corporate culture.

> Were as when a cloud is done right users are provided a budget they can use to spin up resources in mere moments. When people can spin up dozens of instances in seconds using whatever tool they prefer then it's no longer a big deal to release those resources when you are finished with them. Especially when it's their own budget.

I agree but the caveat "done right" of course applies, and this is where it often gets hairy since some organizations don't like to spend resources on better tooling. Then you end up with a lot of unused capacity dangling around, budgets being depleted through carelessness and mistakes or things end up breaking when someone pulls the plug once the budget is spent.