easyMultiple Choice
CCSP Practice Question: A small business wants to use a cloud service but…
A small business wants to use a cloud service but has limited in-house IT expertise. Which cloud service model requires the least customer management responsibility?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the misconception that PaaS requires less management than SaaS because candidates confuse 'platform management' with 'application management,' but PaaS still leaves the customer responsible for application code and its dependencies.
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
✓
SaaS
SaaS (Software as a Service) delivers a complete application managed entirely by the cloud provider, so the customer only needs to use the software without managing underlying infrastructure, platforms, or runtime. For a small business with limited IT expertise, this model minimizes operational overhead because the provider handles maintenance, patching, and availability.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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IaaS
Why it's wrong here
IaaS leaves patching, operating systems, middleware and runtime security to the customer, demanding exactly the in-house expertise the business lacks. It is tempting because it offers maximum control over infrastructure; it would be correct for organisations with strong technical teams needing customised environments.
- ✓
SaaS
Why this is correct
SaaS delivers a complete, provider-managed application; the customer only manages users, access and data, not the underlying platform, runtime or infrastructure. This satisfies the constraint of limited in-house IT expertise, unlike IaaS or PaaS, which require patching, scaling and configuration effort.
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PaaS
Why it's wrong here
PaaS still leaves the customer patching runtimes, configuring middleware and managing deployed applications, so it demands more than FaaS, where the provider runs everything above the function code. PaaS is the right answer when teams want managed hosting for a full application but still need to control its runtime environment.
- ✗
FaaS
Why it's wrong here
FaaS does strip server and runtime management, but the question asks which model requires the least customer responsibility overall; SaaS removes even application-level administration, leaving only user and data management. FaaS suits event-driven, stateless code where per-invocation scaling matters rather than minimal operational burden.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.