Which of the following is a potential risk of adopting cloud services?

Vendor lock-in is a significant potential risk associated with adopting cloud services. This occurs when an organization becomes dependent on a specific cloud service provider’s tools, services, and infrastructure, making it challenging to switch providers or move applications and data to another environment. Once an organization has invested time and resources into a particular vendor’s ecosystem, migrating away from it can become complex and costly due to proprietary formats, unique APIs, and a lack of interoperability with other systems. This dependency can lead to limited flexibility and potential increases in costs over time, as organizations may find themselves tied to a vendor’s pricing and offerings.

In contrast, initial setup costs, accessibility, and hardware requirements can vary significantly depending on the specific cloud service model and deployment strategy used. While some organizations may experience higher setup costs with certain providers, many cloud solutions offer a pay-as-you-go model, which can reduce upfront investment. Similarly, cloud services are designed to enhance accessibility, allowing users to access applications and data from anywhere with internet connectivity. Lastly, cloud computing typically reduces hardware requirements for the end-user organization because the infrastructure management is handled by the cloud provider. Thus, vendor lock-in is indeed a key concern that warrants careful planning and consideration when migrating to the cloud.