MS-900 Describe cloud concepts Practice Question
A colleague says, 'The public cloud is cheaper because you only pay for the resources you use, like compute hours or storage space.' Which cloud computing characteristic directly supports this pay-as-you-go model?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse on-demand self-service (the ability to provision resources without waiting) with the billing model, but on-demand self-service does not inherently include usage metering or pay-as-you-go pricing.
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
✓
Measured service
Measured service is the cloud computing characteristic that enables a pay-as-you-go model by metering resource usage (e.g., compute hours, storage GB-months, outbound data transfer) and providing transparent billing based on actual consumption. This allows providers like Azure to charge only for what is used, directly supporting the colleague's statement that the public cloud is cheaper because you pay only for resources consumed.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Rapid elasticity
Why it's wrong here
Rapid elasticity is a cloud characteristic that automatically scales resources up or down based on demand, which addresses performance and capacity constraints. However, it doesn't create the pay-as-you-go pricing model; without a metering system, elastic scaling could actually increase costs if resources are provisioned liberally. The billing advantage specifically comes from measured service, which tracks and charges for actual consumption, not from the elastic behavior itself.
- ✗
Broad network access
Why it's wrong here
Broad network access means cloud services are reachable over standard network protocols from a wide range of devices, such as laptops, phones, and tablets. This characteristic improves usability and connectivity but has no direct impact on how costs are calculated—a service could be widely accessible yet billed with a flat monthly fee. The reason public cloud can be cheaper is that measured service meters each unit of consumption, allowing costs to align precisely with actual usage rather than with the breadth of network reachability.
- ✓
Measured service
Why this is correct
Measured service is the cloud feature that automates the metering of resource usage, such as CPU time, storage GBs, and network bandwidth, at a granular level. It is this metering capability that enables the pay-as-you-go model, where customers are billed only for the actual consumption, and it allows providers to offer variable pricing that can be lower for sporadic workloads compared to on-premises fixed capacity. This direct linkage between usage and billing is why measured service, not elasticity or self-service, is the correct answer.
- ✗
On-demand self-service
Why it's wrong here
On-demand self-service lets users provision compute, storage, and other resources via a portal or API without requiring IT staff intervention, which certainly increases agility. However, the ability to spin up resources independently does not itself determine pricing; a user could provision a high-end VM and run it continuously, incurring significant charges. The cost efficiency of public cloud depends on measured service, which monitors that usage and allows billing to reflect only the resources actually consumed, so self-service is not the basis for the cost advantage.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every MS-900 question from scratch — 217 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This MS-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 MS-900 exam.