Zephyr Professional Practice Test

What is a feature of the cloud chargeback/showback model?

1. Free access to all cloud services

2. Correlation of usage to departments or consumers

3. Yearly fixed rate pricing

4. Constant pricing regardless of usage

The correct answer is: Correlation of usage to departments or consumers

The correct answer highlights the significance of correlating usage to specific departments or consumers. In a cloud chargeback or showback model, organizations establish a system that tracks and reports the cloud resource usage by different departments, teams, or individual users. This model provides clarity by directly linking the costs of cloud services to the entities using them, allowing for greater accountability and informed decision-making regarding resource allocation and budget management. This approach encourages departments to monitor their usage more carefully, as they understand that their consumption has direct financial implications. It enhances financial visibility and can lead to more effective cloud management by highlighting which areas of an organization are utilizing more resources and incurring higher costs. This, in turn, can lead to discussions about optimizing usage and potentially reducing unnecessary expenses. The other choices provide alternatives that do not align with the key attributes of chargeback or showback. For instance, free access to all cloud services contradicts the very premise of chargeback and showback, which focuses on cost accountability. Yearly fixed rate pricing does not allow for dynamic adjustments based on actual usage and can lead to inefficiencies. Lastly, constant pricing regardless of usage fails to accurately reflect the variable nature of cloud services, further diminishing the utility of these models for managing costs effectively.