The primary benefit of leveraging a cloud target for backups vs. a local target is saving money and resources. Cloud-based backup does not require procurement, maintenance, management and eventual upgrade of hardware and software. Instead, these resources are instantly available on-demand and seemingly infinite and managed by the provider. These resources are also typically on a pay-as-you-go subscription model, so you only pay for what you use, which turns often large capital expenditures (CAPEX) into more manageable operational expenditures (OPEX). There are numerous other advantages , including security (offsite, air-gapped and immutable storage), scalability and accessibility.