"If a couple extra servers can solve a problem, then chances are high that it’s the cheapest way to solve the problem! But, and it’s an all-caps BUT, only if these extra machines don’t create a sysadmin nightmare and escalate the sysadmin costs to the point where the savings evaporate. The goal of RightScale is to automate the sysadmin tasks such that they don’t escalate, such that launching 10x more servers doesn’t cost more sysadmin time."

— RightScale: Service as Software