CCSP Cloud Concepts, Architecture, and Design Practice Question
An organization is moving a legacy application to the cloud and wants to minimize changes to the application code. They require full control over the operating system and middleware. Which cloud service model is most appropriate?
⚠ Common exam trap
CCSP often tests the control-versus-management tradeoff across service models; the trap is choosing PaaS because it 'sounds modern,' ignoring the requirement for full OS and middleware control.
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
✓
IaaS
IaaS provides the customer with virtualized compute, storage, and networking while giving them full control over the operating system, middleware, and runtime — exactly what a legacy application needing minimal code changes requires. The customer manages the guest OS and above, while the provider handles the physical infrastructure and hypervisor. This makes IaaS the most appropriate model for lift-and-shift migrations with OS-level control requirements.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
PaaS
Why it's wrong here
PaaS abstracts the operating system and middleware, so the organisation cannot control them as required; only the application and its data remain under its management. It tempts because PaaS minimises code changes and eases deployment, and would suit a scenario where the provider manages the runtime and the team only ships application code.
- ✗
SaaS
Why it's wrong here
SaaS delivers a vendor-managed application, so it exposes no operating system or middleware layer for the organisation to control, and the legacy code cannot be deployed onto it unchanged. It is tempting because SaaS removes patching and infrastructure work entirely, and would be correct where a standard packaged application already meets the business requirement.
- ✓
IaaS
Why this is correct
IaaS supplies virtualised compute, storage, and networking while leaving the guest operating system and middleware under customer control. This satisfies the requirement for full OS and middleware control with minimal code changes, unlike PaaS, which abstracts the platform layer.
- ✗
FaaS
Why it's wrong here
FaaS abstracts the operating system and middleware entirely, so the requirement for full control over both cannot be met; you supply only function code. It is tempting because FaaS suits event-driven workloads where patching and scaling are delegated to the provider, and code changes are minimal by design.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official ISC2 exam blueprint
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.