1. At a computer system including at least one processor and a memory, a computer-implemented method for determining an optimal number of concurrently running cloud resource instances, the method comprising: an act of accessing a first portion of metric information that identifies first operational metric measurements for one or more cloud resource instances over a first period of time prior to a present time, wherein the first period of time is a contiguous time period; an act of accessing a second portion of metric information that identifies second operational metric measurements for the one or more cloud resource instances over at least a second period of time, the second period of time comprising one or more discrete periods of time that occurred in the past, the second period of time also corresponding to one or more specified future periods of time; an act of calculating one or more projected operational metric measurements based on the identified operational metric measurements over the first period of time and further based on the identified operational metric measurements over the second period of time; and an act of determining, based on the one or more projected operational metric measurements, a number of cloud resource instances that are to be concurrently running at the one or more specified future periods of time; and based on at least the one or more projected operational metric measurements, an act of scaling the concurrently running cloud resource instances during at least one of the one or more specified future points in time.