Cloud Computing with a Small LA firm

Has anyone had any experience with converting their firm from Sever based operations to cloud based? I understand the main parts of it but I was curious how programs such as CAD, Adobe Suite, and Sketch-up work through cloud systems. Do you still need a comp. tower and server to work on the programs metnioned above.I worry that the interface between the cloud and CAD operation would be slow and clunky. Overall my main question is can you fully run a small LA firm just off the cloud?

If you have any experience in this topic, what device did you use? There seems to be a few out there now.

Thanks,