I'm guessing that that's the reporter's fault. The quote seems to referring to AWS, which they've probably never heard of, leading them to make a uninformed guess as to its meaning. Just another case of general media reporters covering stories they're not qualified for.
If you guys mean this quote, thank you for allowing my brain to calm down because for about a minute I thought I was going completely insane in being unable to parse what was being written.
| "Think Amazon," he said, referring to the electronic commerce giant where the inventory is vast but the billing is per item. "That model really works."