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CISA Practice Question: Which TWO of the following are primary objectives…
Which TWO of the following are primary objectives of capacity management? (Select exactly 2.)
⚠ Common exam trap
CISA often tests the distinction between capacity management objectives (adequate and optimized resources) and related but separate objectives like cost minimization or SLA monitoring, so candidates must not select answers that describe financial or service-level goals.
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
✓
To ensure adequate IT resources to meet current and future business demands
Option A is correct because capacity management's core purpose is to plan and provision IT resources (CPU, memory, storage, network bandwidth) so that they are sufficient for both present workloads and forecast future business demand. Option E is correct because capacity management also seeks to right-size and tune existing resources—through techniques like workload balancing, virtualization, and utilization monitoring—so that current infrastructure can efficiently absorb business growth without unnecessary over-provisioning. Options B, C, and D are not primary objectives: monitoring and reporting performance against SLAs belongs to service level management and performance monitoring, while minimizing total cost of ownership and procuring hardware/software at the lowest cost are financial and procurement goals rather than the capacity management objectives of matching supply to demand and optimizing resource use.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
To ensure adequate IT resources to meet current and future business demands
Why this is correct
Capacity management balances current resource provisioning against forecast demand, ensuring performance and availability as business needs grow. This satisfies the objective of aligning IT capacity with both present workloads and anticipated future requirements, preventing both over-provisioning and shortfalls.
- ✗
To monitor and report on system performance against SLAs
Why it's wrong here
Monitoring and reporting performance against SLAs is performance management, which measures delivered service; capacity management instead forecasts future demand and provisions resources to meet it. It is tempting because both disciplines share performance data, and would be correct where the question asked about service level management objectives.
- ✗
To minimize the total cost of ownership of IT resources
Why it's wrong here
Capacity management balances demand against supply at agreed service levels; minimising total cost of ownership is a cost-optimisation objective, not a primary capacity goal. It is tempting because cost reduction often accompanies capacity work, and would be correct where the question asked about IT financial management objectives.
- ✗
To procure hardware and software at the lowest possible cost
Why it's wrong here
Procuring hardware and software at the lowest possible cost is procurement or cost management, not capacity management, which sizes resources to meet predicted demand. It is tempting because capacity plans drive purchases, and would be correct where the question asked about sourcing or IT asset acquisition objectives.
- ✓
To optimize the use of existing resources to support business growth
Why this is correct
Optimising existing resources directly satisfies the stem's demand for a primary capacity management objective: it ensures current infrastructure is fully utilised before new investment, supporting business growth without unnecessary expenditure. This aligns with capacity management's core aim of balancing supply against demand cost-effectively.
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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 ISACA exam blueprint
This CISA practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISACA 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 CISA exam.