The cloud was a good deal in 2006 when the smallest aws machine was about the size of a ok dev desktop and took over two years of renting to justify buying the physical machine outright.

Today the smallest, and even large, aws machines are a joke, comparable to a mobile phone from 15 years ago to a terrible laptop today, and take about three to six months to in rent as buying the hardware outright.

If you're on the cloud without getting 75% discount you will save money and headcount by doing everything on prem.