Question

A retail company's CFO is evaluating a move from on-premises data centers to Google Cloud. Currently, the company makes large upfront purchases of servers and networking hardware every few years, which it depreciates over time. The CFO wants to understand how the cloud will change the company's financial model. Which statement best describes the primary financial shift the company will experience?

Accepted Answer

It shifts spending from capital expenditure (CapEx) to operating expenditure (OpEx), paying for resources as they are consumed rather than large upfront purchases.

Answer

It shifts spending from operating expenditure (OpEx) to capital expenditure (CapEx), requiring larger upfront hardware investments.

Answer

It eliminates all IT costs because Google Cloud provides infrastructure at no charge for enterprise customers.

Answer

It converts all costs into fixed annual license fees that remain constant regardless of usage.