- A
$30,000 (cloud cost increase of $120K minus the $50K DC savings)
Why wrong: This incorrectly treats cloud costs as an addition rather than a replacement for data center costs.
- B
$80,000 annual savings ($200,000 previous cost minus $120,000 cloud cost)
Total previous cost: $200,000 data center. Total new cost: $120,000 cloud. Net annual savings = $200,000 - $120,000 = $80,000 (the $50K DC savings is part of the $200K → cloud shift).
- C
$50,000 (only the data center cost savings count)
Why wrong: The full comparison is $200K previously vs. $120K now. The total savings is $80K, not just the $50K partial DC savings figure.
- D
$120,000 (the entire cloud bill is savings)
Why wrong: The cloud bill is a cost, not a saving. The saving is the difference between what was previously spent ($200K) and what is now spent ($120K).
Quick Answer
The answer is $80,000 in net annual savings. This is calculated by taking the previous total cost of ownership (TCO) of $200,000 and subtracting the new cloud bill of $120,000, because the $50,000 in eliminated data center costs are already reflected in the lower cloud spend—meaning no remaining on-premises costs exist. On the Google Cloud Digital Leader exam, this tests your ability to calculate net savings from cloud migration TCO by comparing the full pre-migration cost against the post-migration cloud cost, not by double-counting savings. A common trap is to incorrectly add the $50,000 savings to the cloud bill, but the correct formula is simply previous TCO minus new cloud TCO. Remember the memory tip: "Old total minus new total, not old minus saved."
Cloud Digital Leader Scaling with Google Cloud operations Practice Question
This GCDL practice question tests your understanding of scaling with google cloud operations. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company currently spends $200,000 annually on data center costs (hardware, power, cooling, staff). After migrating to Google Cloud, their cloud bill is $120,000 annually, but they also save $50,000 in data center costs they no longer pay. What is their net annual savings from the migration?
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
$80,000 annual savings ($200,000 previous cost minus $120,000 cloud cost)
Option B is correct because the net annual savings are calculated as the difference between the previous total cost ($200,000) and the new total cost after migration. The new total cost is the cloud bill ($120,000) plus any remaining data center costs. Since the company saves $50,000 in data center costs they no longer pay, the remaining data center costs are $200,000 - $50,000 = $150,000. However, the question states they 'save $50,000 in data center costs they no longer pay,' meaning those costs are eliminated entirely, so the new total cost is just the cloud bill of $120,000. Thus, savings = $200,000 - $120,000 = $80,000.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
$30,000 (cloud cost increase of $120K minus the $50K DC savings)
Why it's wrong here
This incorrectly treats cloud costs as an addition rather than a replacement for data center costs.
- ✓
$80,000 annual savings ($200,000 previous cost minus $120,000 cloud cost)
Why this is correct
Total previous cost: $200,000 data center. Total new cost: $120,000 cloud. Net annual savings = $200,000 - $120,000 = $80,000 (the $50K DC savings is part of the $200K → cloud shift).
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
$50,000 (only the data center cost savings count)
Why it's wrong here
The full comparison is $200K previously vs. $120K now. The total savings is $80K, not just the $50K partial DC savings figure.
- ✗
$120,000 (the entire cloud bill is savings)
Why it's wrong here
The cloud bill is a cost, not a saving. The saving is the difference between what was previously spent ($200K) and what is now spent ($120K).
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Cisco often tests the misconception that savings are simply the difference between the old and new cloud costs, or that only direct cost reductions count, rather than requiring a full TCO comparison including eliminated on-premises expenses.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In cloud financial operations (FinOps), total cost of ownership (TCO) comparisons must account for all cost categories: hardware, power, cooling, and staff. The net savings calculation is: (Previous Total Cost) - (New Cloud Cost + Remaining On-Premises Costs). Here, the $50,000 savings means those specific costs are eliminated, so the new total is just the cloud bill. A common real-world scenario is when companies forget to include indirect costs like staff retraining or migration tooling, which can offset apparent savings.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this GCDL question test?
Scaling with Google Cloud operations — This question tests Scaling with Google Cloud operations — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: $80,000 annual savings ($200,000 previous cost minus $120,000 cloud cost) — Option B is correct because the net annual savings are calculated as the difference between the previous total cost ($200,000) and the new total cost after migration. The new total cost is the cloud bill ($120,000) plus any remaining data center costs. Since the company saves $50,000 in data center costs they no longer pay, the remaining data center costs are $200,000 - $50,000 = $150,000. However, the question states they 'save $50,000 in data center costs they no longer pay,' meaning those costs are eliminated entirely, so the new total cost is just the cloud bill of $120,000. Thus, savings = $200,000 - $120,000 = $80,000.
What should I do if I get this GCDL question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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