I believe the cloud mining platform is more profitable than normal miner, it cost lesser long run(lesser electricity cost), more profitable(online is 24 hours, hence more profit), no long wait no prouder, no need to bear with heat or noise(i have a egg heater in my room), and less stress to miner(no need keep monitoring to prevent downtime).
Overall I think cloud mining will be the future, but the key point is to go with a reputable company, especially need to avoid scam companies out there... I myself has start shifting my funds to a new cloud mining service Zeushash(cloud mining service from Zeusminer), and the trans id is all traceable. I believe it is one of the reputable company out there.