This CCSP practice question tests your understanding of cloud concepts, architecture and design. 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 is migrating to the cloud to reduce capital expenditures. They want to pay only for the resources they consume with no upfront investment. Which financial model does this describe?
Amortization
Why wrong: Amortization is an accounting method for spreading costs over time, not a cloud consumption model.
Capex
Why wrong: Capex involves upfront capital investment, which the company wants to avoid.
Leasing
Why wrong: Leasing is not a standard cloud financial model; it typically involves fixed payments over time.
Opex
Opex is the pay-as-you-go model that aligns with variable costs and no upfront investment.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Opex
Option D is correct because the operating expenditure (Opex) model allows a company to pay for cloud resources on a consumption basis without any upfront capital investment. This aligns with the goal of reducing capital expenditures (Capex) by shifting costs to variable, pay-as-you-go operational expenses.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Amortization
Why it's wrong here
Amortization is an accounting method for spreading costs over time, not a cloud consumption model.
Capex
Why it's wrong here
Capex involves upfront capital investment, which the company wants to avoid.
Leasing
Why it's wrong here
Leasing is not a standard cloud financial model; it typically involves fixed payments over time.
Opex
Why this is correct
Opex is the pay-as-you-go model that aligns with variable costs and no upfront investment.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
ISC2 often tests the distinction between Capex and Opex by presenting a scenario that describes consumption-based pricing, and the trap is that candidates confuse 'leasing' (which still implies a fixed term) with true pay-as-you-go Opex.
Detailed technical explanation
In cloud computing, Opex models rely on metering and billing APIs (e.g., AWS Cost Explorer, Azure Cost Management) that track resource usage at granular levels (e.g., per-hour VM instances, per-GB storage, per-API call). This enables dynamic scaling and cost alignment with actual demand, but requires careful monitoring to avoid unexpected spikes from misconfigured auto-scaling or data egress charges.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise encounters this scenario during an investigation or architecture review. The correct answer reflects best practice for the specific threat or control described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Security exam questions test whether you can match controls to threats in context — not just recall definitions.
What to study next
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Cloud Concepts, Architecture and Design — This question tests Cloud Concepts, Architecture and Design — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Opex — Option D is correct because the operating expenditure (Opex) model allows a company to pay for cloud resources on a consumption basis without any upfront capital investment. This aligns with the goal of reducing capital expenditures (Capex) by shifting costs to variable, pay-as-you-go operational expenses.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
This CCSP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 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 CCSP exam.
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