Question

A medium-sized highway construction company CST has chosen to constrain its investment in computing resources to laptop and desktop computers and the necessary networking hardware and software to access the Internet efficiently. All of CST's data is to be stored off-site through an Internet-enabled storage provider that is used by many different companies and organizations. The service model employed for the data storage capability of only CST is:

Answer 1

The service model used by CST for their data storage needs is Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), involving the use of an Internet-enabled, remote storage provider.

Step-by-step explanation:

The service model employed for the data storage capability of CST, a medium-sized highway construction company, seems to align with the concept of cloud storage, specifically Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). CST has opted for using computing resources like laptops and desktops along with networking hardware and software while outsourcing their data storage needs. This arrangement allows them to store data off-site through an Internet-enabled storage provider.

Using off-site data solutions is consistent with the larger trend in information and communications technology which facilitates firms, irrespective of their size, to leverage global markets and manage operations more efficiently. Technologies have advanced significantly, transforming how businesses operate and manage their computing and network resources, as seen with the transition from mainframes to personal computers and the emergence of proprietary and open-source operating systems.

Answer 2

The service model employed for the data storage capability of only CST is:

SaaS (Software as a Service).

Step-by-step explanation:

The three cloud computing categories are Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS). The three cloud computing services provide different virtual computing resources. In the case of CST, it utilizes only the data storage software of a provider, who provides the data storage infrastructure, including cloud-based servers, while CST uses its own "laptop and desktop computers and other networking hardware and software to access the Internet efficiently."