Cloud Digital Leader Why Cloud Technology Can Transform Business Practice Question
A company is considering migrating its on-premises workloads to Google Cloud. Which TWO are common business drivers for cloud adoption? (Choose TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
GCDL often tests the misconception that cloud guarantees 100% uptime or eliminates security risks, which are exaggerated claims not supported by SLAs or shared responsibility models.
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
✓
Cost optimization by converting CapEx to OpEx
Option A is correct because migrating to Google Cloud shifts IT spending from large upfront capital expenditures (CapEx) on hardware and data centers to pay-as-you-go operational expenditures (OpEx), which is a well-established financial driver for cloud adoption. Option C is correct because cloud providers like Google Cloud offer on-demand, self-service resource provisioning through services such as Compute Engine and Cloud Storage, enabling organizations to deploy and iterate faster and thereby accelerate time to market. Option B is incorrect because no cloud provider guarantees 100% uptime for all services; SLAs typically offer credits for failing to meet targets like 99.9% or 99.99%, not absolute uptime. Option D is incorrect because avoiding vendor lock-in is not a guaranteed outcome of cloud adoption and often requires deliberate multi-cloud or portable architectures; it is a concern to manage rather than a common driver. Option E is incorrect because cloud adoption does not eliminate security risks; it changes the shared responsibility model, and customers remain responsible for securing their workloads, identities, and data.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Cost optimization by converting CapEx to OpEx
Why this is correct
Cloud migration converts capital expenditure (CapEx) on physical data centers and hardware into operational expenditure (OpEx) through pay-as-you-go pricing. This eliminates large upfront investments and reserves, replacing them with predictable, variable costs directly tied to consumption, which improves cash flow and financial flexibility.
- ✗
Guaranteed 100% uptime for all services
Why it's wrong here
No cloud provider guarantees 100% uptime; SLAs typically offer 99.9% to 99.99% availability with service credits for breaches, but not absolute reliability. Even with multi-region architectures and redundant components, human error, software bugs, or physical disasters can cause outages, so users must architect for failure rather than assume a zero-downtime promise.
- ✓
Faster time to market through on-demand resource provisioning
Why this is correct
On-demand provisioning allows compute, storage, and network resources to be spun up or down in minutes via APIs and console, bypassing procurement and installation lead times. This accelerates development, testing, and production deployment cycles, enabling rapid experimentation and faster delivery of new features or services to market.
- ✗
Ability to avoid any vendor lock-in
Why it's wrong here
While cloud provides some portability, deep adoption of provider-specific managed services, proprietary APIs, and data formats can create significant lock-in. Exiting a cloud provider may involve costly data egress fees, re-architecture, and migration complexity, so avoiding vendor lock-in entirely is unrealistic; multi-cloud strategies only mitigate, not eliminate, this risk.
- ✗
Elimination of all security risks
Why it's wrong here
The shared responsibility model means providers secure the physical infrastructure but customers remain accountable for securing their data, access policies, and application configurations. Threats like misconfigured storage buckets, compromised credentials, or vulnerable code persist in the cloud, and cloud introduces new attack surfaces, so security risks are reduced, not eliminated.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
GCP SLAs and Uptime Guarantees
Key term
Security
Security in IT is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and data from unauthorized access, damage, or theft.
Key term
Data
Data is raw, unprocessed information, like numbers, words, or measurements, that can be stored, processed, and analyzed by computers.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Google Cloud exam blueprint
This GCDL practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud 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 GCDL exam.