Question 854 of 217
MS-900 Describe cloud concepts Practice Question
A startup wants to focus only on developing and deploying its application code without managing underlying servers or operating systems. Which cloud service model best fits this need?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse PaaS with IaaS, mistakenly thinking that IaaS also abstracts the OS, but IaaS only abstracts the hardware while leaving OS management to the customer.
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
✓
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Platform as a Service (PaaS) is the correct choice because it abstracts the underlying infrastructure, including servers, operating systems, and runtime environments, allowing the startup to focus solely on developing and deploying application code. With PaaS, the cloud provider manages the OS patching, hardware scaling, and middleware, while the customer only manages the application and data. This directly matches the requirement of not managing servers or operating systems.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Why it's wrong here
IaaS provides virtualized compute, storage, and networking on demand, but it still requires the user to configure and maintain the guest OS, runtime, middleware, and application dependencies. The startup would need to handle patching, security, and scaling of VMs or other infrastructure components, so it does not let them focus solely on application code.
- ✓
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Why this is correct
PaaS delivers a fully managed hosting environment that includes the operating system, language runtime, web server, and deployment tooling as part of the service. The startup only manages its application code and data, while the platform provider automatically handles patching, scaling, and infrastructure maintenance—exactly matching the requirement to focus purely on development and deployment.
- ✗
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Why it's wrong here
SaaS offers users a complete, production-ready application over the internet, such as Microsoft 365 or Salesforce, where the vendor manages all underlying infrastructure and software updates. It is not a development platform for running custom code; consumers cannot deploy their own application logic onto it, so it fails the startup's need to develop and deploy proprietary code.
- ✗
On-premises deployment
Why it's wrong here
On-premises deployment means the startup owns and manages physical servers, storage, networking, cooling, and power, in addition to the full software stack. This setup demands hardware procurement, OS installation, patching, security, and capacity planning—completely opposite to the goal of focusing only on application code, and it lacks the elasticity and maintenance benefits of cloud services.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.