Ace the ITIL 4 Foundation Exam 2026 – Level Up Your IT Skills with Confidence!

Cloud computing is primarily associated with on-demand network access to computing resources. This model allows users to access a variety of computing services over the internet, such as storage, processing power, and applications, without needing to purchase or manage physical hardware directly. The essence of cloud computing lies in its ability to provide scalable resources that can be provisioned and released quickly based on demand. This flexibility enables organizations to efficiently manage workloads and optimize resource utilization.

In contrast, the other options focus on traditional IT paradigms. Local data storage solutions refer to storing data on physical devices within a local environment, which is the opposite of the distributed nature of cloud storage. Manual management of IT services emphasizes hands-on management, which is often less efficient compared to automation capabilities offered by cloud computing. Lastly, physical hardware upgrades involve tangible enhancements to existing IT infrastructure, which cloud computing generally seeks to minimize by abstracting and virtualizing resources. Therefore, the characteristic nature of cloud computing as providing on-demand access to virtualized resources is what makes the second choice the correct answer.