Which TWO statements correctly describe the economic characteristics of cloud computing (all-in cloud)? (Choose TWO.)
A question asking to select TWO economic characteristics of all-in cloud computing.
Large upfront capital expenditure (CapEx) can be replaced by pay-as-you-go operational expenditure (OpEx).
Correct. With cloud computing, customers do not purchase servers and instead pay only for what they use, enabling a shift from capital expenditure (CapEx) to operational expenditure (OpEx).
A minimum 1-year contract is required to receive long-term usage discounts.
Long-term commitment discounts such as Reserved Instances and Savings Plans are optional purchasing options; customers can still use AWS without a contract by paying on-demand.
The claim that 'a long-term contract is mandatory for discounts' contradicts the flexibility of cloud pricing models, so this is incorrect.
Capacity can be scaled up or down to match demand, eliminating the need for excess upfront provisioning for peak load.
Correct. Because cloud capacity scales up or down with demand, there is no longer a need to over-provision servers in advance for projected peak usage, eliminating wasteful investment.
Advance capacity forecasting for demand peaks becomes MORE rigorous with cloud than with on-premises infrastructure.
With cloud computing, capacity can be scaled up or down on demand, so the burden of advance peak-capacity forecasting actually decreases.
Eliminating the need for rigid upfront capacity estimation is one of the hallmark benefits of cloud; the assertion that forecasting becomes more rigorous than on-premises is the opposite of the truth, so this is incorrect.
Data center facility maintenance costs within a Region are billed individually to each customer.
The costs of data center buildings, power, cooling, and hardware maintenance are borne by AWS and built into the service pricing.
Facility maintenance costs are never billed separately to customers; customers pay only the usage-based service charges, so this is incorrect.
The core of cloud economics is the CapEx→OpEx shift and demand-based scaling (eliminating over-provisioning). Long-term contracts are optional discount options; the burden of advance capacity forecasting is reduced; and facility maintenance costs are included in service pricing.