easyMultiple Choice
220-1102 Practice Question: A small business uses a cloud-based accounting…
A small business uses a cloud-based accounting application. Several employees report that they can no longer access the application, and they receive a message stating that the service is temporarily unavailable. The business's internet connection is working, and other cloud services are accessible. What is the most likely cause of this issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
CompTIA A+ often tests the distinction between client-side issues (cache, firewall, account status) and provider-side outages by presenting a scenario where only one service fails, tempting candidates to blame local configuration rather than recognizing the service-specific outage pattern.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The cloud service provider is experiencing an outage.
The scenario describes a service-specific outage: the cloud-based accounting application is inaccessible while other cloud services and the internet connection remain functional. This pattern—one application failing while others work—strongly indicates that the issue is isolated to that particular cloud service provider, not the local network or user accounts. A provider outage would cause the 'temporarily unavailable' message, as the application's servers are unreachable.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The user's browser cache is corrupted.
Why it's wrong here
A corrupted browser cache would affect one workstation, and clearing it would restore access; it would not produce a service-unavailable message across several employees. The message indicates the provider's service is down. Cache corruption would be the likely cause when a single user sees stale or broken pages while others work normally.
- ✓
The cloud service provider is experiencing an outage.
Why this is correct
Other cloud services work and the local internet link is fine, so the fault lies beyond the business network. A provider-side outage makes the accounting service itself unreachable while everything else remains accessible, matching the temporary unavailability message.
- ✗
The business's firewall is blocking the accounting application.
Why it's wrong here
Other cloud services remain accessible, so the firewall is not blocking outbound traffic generally; a rule targeting this application would also typically yield a connection timeout rather than a service-unavailable message. Firewall blocking would be the likely cause when only this application fails while the provider reports normal operation.
- ✗
The employees' user accounts have been disabled.
Why it's wrong here
Disabled accounts would return authentication or permission errors for the affected individuals, not a service-unavailable message affecting several employees simultaneously. The wording points to a provider-side outage. Disabled accounts would be the likely cause when specific users cannot sign in while the application itself remains reachable for others.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1202 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 220-1202 exam.