- A
High availability
Why wrong: High availability refers to ensuring services remain accessible despite failures, not to the financial model of paying for resources. It is a benefit of cloud architecture, not the cost shift described.
- B
Elasticity
Why wrong: Elasticity is the ability to automatically scale resources up or down based on demand. While it can help optimize costs, it does not directly describe the shift from upfront purchases to ongoing operational payments.
- C
Operational expenditure (OpEx)
Operational expenditure (OpEx) is the cloud computing benefit that allows organizations to pay for IT resources as an ongoing cost rather than making large upfront capital investments. This aligns directly with the CFO's goal.
- D
Fault tolerance
Why wrong: Fault tolerance is the ability of a system to continue operating even if some components fail. It is a resilience characteristic, not related to the financial model of paying for resources.
AZ-900 Describe cloud concepts Practice Question
This AZ-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe cloud concepts. 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 healthcare company is planning to migrate its on-premises data center to Azure. The CFO wants to shift from making large upfront hardware purchases to paying for IT resources as an ongoing operational cost. Which cloud computing benefit does this scenario describe?
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
Operational expenditure (OpEx)
Option C is correct because the scenario describes shifting from capital expenditure (CapEx) for upfront hardware purchases to operational expenditure (OpEx) for ongoing, pay-as-you-go IT resource consumption. This is a core financial benefit of cloud computing, where costs are treated as variable operating expenses rather than fixed capital investments.
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.
- ✗
High availability
Why it's wrong here
High availability refers to ensuring services remain accessible despite failures, not to the financial model of paying for resources. It is a benefit of cloud architecture, not the cost shift described.
- ✗
Elasticity
Why it's wrong here
Elasticity is the ability to automatically scale resources up or down based on demand. While it can help optimize costs, it does not directly describe the shift from upfront purchases to ongoing operational payments.
- ✓
Operational expenditure (OpEx)
Why this is correct
Operational expenditure (OpEx) is the cloud computing benefit that allows organizations to pay for IT resources as an ongoing cost rather than making large upfront capital investments. This aligns directly with the CFO's goal.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Fault tolerance
Why it's wrong here
Fault tolerance is the ability of a system to continue operating even if some components fail. It is a resilience characteristic, not related to the financial model of paying for resources.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse operational expenditure (OpEx) with elasticity or high availability, but the question specifically focuses on the financial shift from upfront hardware purchases to ongoing operational costs, not on scaling or reliability features.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Azure's consumption-based pricing model meters resource usage at granular levels (e.g., per vCPU-hour, per GB of storage, per million requests) and bills accordingly. This contrasts with on-premises CapEx, where hardware must be purchased and depreciated over years, regardless of actual utilization. Real-world scenarios include a healthcare company using Azure VMs for seasonal workloads, paying only for compute time during active periods rather than maintaining idle servers.
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
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-900 question test?
Describe cloud concepts — This question tests Describe cloud concepts — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Operational expenditure (OpEx) — Option C is correct because the scenario describes shifting from capital expenditure (CapEx) for upfront hardware purchases to operational expenditure (OpEx) for ongoing, pay-as-you-go IT resource consumption. This is a core financial benefit of cloud computing, where costs are treated as variable operating expenses rather than fixed capital investments.
What should I do if I get this AZ-900 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 AZ-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft 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 AZ-900 exam.
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