Cloud Digital Leader Why Cloud Technology Can Transform Business Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  Private cloud (on-premises only)

  Why it's wrong here

  Private cloud (on-premises only) isolates sensitive data on dedicated infrastructure, but this option fails to provide access to Google Cloud's managed AI/ML and analytics services, such as Vertex AI or BigQuery. As a result, the firm cannot leverage Google Cloud's scalable, cost-efficient processing for non-sensitive workloads, and it misses the opportunity to use Cloud Interconnect for a seamless hybrid extension. This over-restrictive approach sacrifices cloud innovation without addressing the need for hybrid flexibility, making it an inadequate choice for modern financial services.

• ✗

  Multi-cloud (AWS + Azure + Google Cloud)

  Why it's wrong here

  Multi-cloud (AWS + Azure + Google Cloud) involves distributing workloads across multiple public cloud providers to achieve redundancy and avoid vendor lock-in, but it does not inherently include an on-premises footprint. Sensitive data would still reside in third-party data centers, potentially violating compliance mandates that require the firm to maintain primary custody of its data on-premises or within a specific jurisdiction. While a multi-cloud strategy could be paired with on-prem infrastructure, this option as stated fails the core constraint of keeping sensitive data on-prem, and the added operational complexity of managing three clouds is a further drawback.

• ✗

  Public cloud (Google Cloud only)

  Why it's wrong here

  Public cloud (Google Cloud only) would require moving all sensitive data to Google's shared infrastructure in third-party data centers, which likely violates regulatory requirements for data residency or sovereignty that mandate the firm retain physical control over its data. Even with robust encryption, access controls, and compliance certifications, the data's physical location and jurisdictional exposure remain fundamental issues. A pure public cloud approach also precludes the use of an on-premises data layer, so it directly contradicts the need to keep sensitive data on-prem while potentially using cloud services for other workloads.

• ✓

  Hybrid cloud (on-premises + Google Cloud)

  Why this is correct

  Hybrid cloud (on-premises + Google Cloud) enables the financial services firm to keep sensitive data on-premises in its own data center while securely extending to Google Cloud for compute, analytics, and AI services. This is achieved through Google Cloud's Interconnect or VPN, which provides low-latency, high-bandwidth connectivity between the on-prem environment and Google Cloud VPC, allowing workloads to burst to the cloud for non-sensitive processing or to leverage services like BigQuery on encrypted data. This architecture satisfies both regulatory compliance by retaining on-prem custody of regulated data and business innovation by tapping into Google Cloud's managed services, making it the correct choice.

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