Why Moving Workloads to AWS Removes Data-Center Costs

CLF-C02 By islever Editorial Last updated

Define the benefits of the AWS Cloud. Understand concepts of cloud economics.

Short answer

A Moving on-premises workloads to AWS removes the cost of running and maintaining your own data centers.

Question

Which of the following is an advantage that users experience when they move on-premises workloads to the AWS Cloud?
  1. Elimination of expenses for running and maintaining data centers Correct Answer
  2. Price discounts that are identical to discounts from hardware providers
  3. Distribution of all operational controls to AWS
  4. Elimination of operational expenses

Key Takeaways

The exam expects the organization-level framing of AWS's advantage list; the trap is distractors that claim total elimination of operational expense or full transfer of control to AWS.

This CLF-C02 question tests the six documented advantages of cloud computing: migrating on-premises workloads to AWS eliminates the expense of running and maintaining data centers, making A the correct answer.

Common mistake: Option D is the tempting wrong pick because cost savings feel like eliminated spend, but operational expenditure is only converted into metered AWS service charges, not removed.

Expert Analysis

The governing principle

The AWS Cloud concept "Six advantages of cloud computing" lists, among its points, the ability to stop spending money on running and maintaining data centers. That advantage is stated from the organization's perspective: AWS operates the physical facilities, and the customer no longer funds the buildings, power, cooling, physical security and the staff needed to keep them running.

Applying it to this scenario

Option A restates exactly that documented advantage, so A is correct. One nuance worth holding onto: the underlying cost has not vanished — AWS recovers it inside service pricing — but from the adopting customer's books, the data-center run-and-maintain line item goes away and is replaced by pay-as-you-go usage. Economies of scale are what make that shift economical.

Why the others fail

Option B is wrong because AWS pricing is not calibrated to hardware-vendor discount schedules; you pay for consumed capacity, not for discounted boxes. Option C confuses the shared responsibility model: AWS owns security of the cloud and the physical layer, while the customer retains control of data, configurations, access management and, depending on the deployment model, portions of the operating stack. "All operational controls" is never transferred. Option D is too absolute — operational expenditure does not disappear; it is transformed into metered service charges for compute, storage and networking.

Reading the distractors correctly

A single comment objects that users themselves should not care about facility costs, arguing instead for reduced administrative burden. That is a fair reading of "user," but the exam consistently frames benefits at the organization level, and the same comment's own list of cloud advantages points to the data-center item. The correct choice is A.

This maps to objective 1.1, with the economics angle touching 1.4.

Official Reference

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/latest/aws-overview/six-advantages-of-cloud-computing.html

This link opens the official vendor documentation in a new tab.

Exam Strategy

When a question asks for an "advantage" of the AWS Cloud, mentally run through the six advantages from the AWS overview whitepaper and match each option against them literally. Reject any option using absolute words such as "all", "identical" or "elimination of operational expenses", since AWS converts rather than removes spend. Apply the shared responsibility model whenever an option claims control is handed entirely to AWS.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does moving to AWS really eliminate data-center costs completely?

For the customer, the costs of running and maintaining its own data centers disappear, but AWS recovers those costs within service pricing. Economies of scale make the total lower than running facilities yourself.

Why is "elimination of operational expenses" wrong?

Operational expenditure becomes metered pay-as-you-go charges for compute, storage and networking rather than vanishing. Only the fixed data-center run-and-maintain spend is removed from your books.

Does AWS take over all operational controls after migration?

No. Under the shared responsibility model AWS manages security of the cloud and physical infrastructure, while you retain control of data, configurations, access and workloads.

More CLF-C02 FAQ →

Community Votes

A
95%
C
5%

95% of anonymous learners picked answer A. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 20 contributions

Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.

From public community threads 20

  1. TheFivePips 👍 9 Answered A
    A. Elimination of expenses for running and maintaining data centers Moving to the AWS Cloud allows users to leverage AWS's infrastructure, eliminating the need for organizations to run and maintain their own data centers. This shift can lead to cost savings, improved scalability, and increased flexibility. Options B, C, and D are not accurate: B. Price discounts that are identical to discounts from hardware providers AWS provides its pricing model, and while cost savings can be achieved by leveraging cloud services, the pricing structure is different from traditional hardware providers. C. Distribution of all operational controls to AWS While AWS manages the underlying infrastructure, users still retain control over the operational aspects of their applications and services. It's a shared responsibility model, where AWS manages certain aspects, and users manage others. D. Elimination of operational expenses While there may be cost savings, it's not accurate to say that all operational expenses are eliminated. Users are still responsible for managing and optimizing their cloud resources, applications, and configurations.
  2. stheno 👍 4 Answered A
    Trade fixed expense for variable expense Benefit from massive economies of scale Stop guessing capacity Increase speed and agility Stop spending money running and maintaining data centers Go global in minutes
  3. isaphiltrick 👍 3
    A is correct. Reference: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/latest/aws-overview/six-advantages-of-cloud-computing.html
  4. Roroyoshi 👍 3 Answered A
    A is correct, no need to pay for data center expenses
  5. Itzmelakshmikanth3108 👍 2
    A. Elimination of expenses for running and maintaining data centers Moving on-premises workloads to the AWS Cloud can indeed lead to the elimination of expenses associated with running and maintaining data centers. This includes costs related to infrastructure maintenance, facility management, hardware upgrades, electricity, cooling, and physical security. By leveraging cloud services, organizations can offload these responsibilities to the cloud provider, resulting in reduced operational expenses and allowing them to focus more on their core business objectives.
Show 15 more comments
  1. Anyio 👍 2 Answered A
    A. Elimination of expenses for running and maintaining data centers. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/latest/aws-overview/six-advantages-of-cloud-computing.html
  2. ShaiTay 👍 2 Answered A
    A. Elimination of expenses for running and maintaining data centers
  3. Dipa_2910 👍 2 Answered A
    Option A elimination of expenses for running datacentres
  4. yogismash 👍 2 Answered A
    this is correct
  5. Kessel 👍 1 Answered A
    A. Elimination of expenses for running and maintaining data centers Don't want to nit-pick, but technically you are still paying AWS for the expenses of running their datacenters, it's just that the costs are embedded in their pricing. Of course economies of scale make this a no brainer.
  6. Cristof 👍 1 Answered C
    Why should USERS care about expenses? Infrastructure costs do not come out of their pocket. That's for leadership concern. The only benefit to the "user" is less administrative responsibility
  7. Sir_Kay 👍 1 Answered A
    AWS removes the need for companies to invest in and maintain physical infrastructure.
  8. XuanWrei 👍 1 Answered A
    A. Elimination of expenses for running and maintaining data center
  9. Kostiantyn12 👍 1 Answered A
    Elimination of expenses for running and maintaining data centers.
  10. pabloalonso_aws 👍 1 Answered A
    Es la ventaja literal definida por AWS.
  11. lunamuller 👍 1 Answered A
    Answer A is correct.
  12. Julio19vp 👍 1 Answered A
    La respuestaes la A
  13. Qurresh 👍 1 Answered A
    expenses are reduce
  14. asdfcdsxdfc 👍 1 Answered A
    A looks correct
  15. GPFT 👍 1 Answered A
    a is correct

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