Some scenarios in whoch 'cloud computing' makes sense:
1. Team working. This has been around for ages, in many software categories. It comprises a file management system, and records of who has made which changes to which documents. It allows several engineers to work on the same model, for example.
2. Pay per use. There might be standard piece of software that you use regularly. However, very occasionally you need a feature only found in the 'Deluxe Pro' edition, which is a $1,000 more. Being able to use the 'Deluxe Pro' version for a limited time, or just the one job, for a fee of a few tens of dollars would be preferable.
3. Being able to rent compute resources. At a certain stage of every project, you require some rendering or simulation and the deadline is looming. There is little point in investing in your own render farm in the basement if you don't use it all the time.
Yeah, trusting your data to someone else is silly, multiple backups across at least two sites is the way to go. However, there is no reason why it can't be stored on somebody else's servers as well (for convenience and accessibility, should your offices ISP have a hiccup) and it can be encrypted. Or encrypted and split between two service providers.