Conclusion
Although a lot of hype surrounds applications that are entirely cloud hosted, hybrid applications are probably the most interesting from an operations perspective. Hybrids allow you to use the cloud to get the most out of the hardware you purchase.
Hybrid applications also underscore the point that traditional operations best practices are exactly what are required for any cloud application to succeed. Configuration management and monitoring lay the foundation for effective auto-scaling.
With the cloud, it's less important to monitor each individual piece because there is very little consistency. What are important to monitor are high-level metrics such as how many files you're storing on S3 so that you can be aware of impending problems before they get out of hand.
Always try to use the best tool for the job, unless you have a really good reason not to. Like databases, some things just don't perform well in the cloud. By having a foot on both sides, you can more easily pick and choose from the options.
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