A utilities IT manager contrasts buying a five-year physical server with paying monthly for Azure capacity. Which statement correctly frames CapEx versus OpEx in a consumption-based cloud?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Buying the big server is like paying cash for a city plow truck you own for years—that is capital spend. Renting Azure by the month is more like leasing fuel and garage space as you go—operating spend that follows how much you actually use.
Full Explanation
Capital expenditure (CapEx) is money spent upfront to acquire assets such as physical servers. Operating expenditure (OpEx) covers ongoing costs of running the business. Consumption-based public cloud shifts much of infrastructure spend toward OpEx because organizations pay for metered use over time rather than purchasing and depreciating hardware. AZ-900 expects that CapEx-versus-OpEx framing, not a municipal accounting deep dive.