Even when doing custom software development, cloud infrastructure increases agility when leveraging IaaS and PaaS.

• A. They decrease agility
• B. They have no effect on agility
• C. They sometimes increase agility
• D. They increase agility

Answer: (D)

The idea being tested is how cloud infrastructure like IaaS and PaaS affects speed and flexibility in custom software development. IaaS enables on-demand provisioning of compute, storage, and networking through self-service, so environments for development, testing, and production can be created in minutes instead of weeks. This cuts procurement and setup delays and makes it easy to experiment, iterate, and scale as requirements change. PaaS adds ready-made runtime environments, services, and automated deployment and scaling, so developers can deploy and manage applications with less overhead and more repeatable processes. Together, these capabilities shorten cycle times, improve consistency across environments, and support rapid delivery and adjustments—precisely what agility is about. While mismanagement or counterproductive practices can hamper speed, the intended effect of leveraging IaaS and PaaS is to increase agility.