Which of the following is a key benefit of cloud computing?

Scalability and flexibility in resource management is a core benefit of cloud computing. With cloud services, organizations can efficiently adjust their resources to meet changing demands. This means they can easily scale up by adding more resources when there is an increase in workload or scale down when demand decreases, allowing for cost-effective management of IT resources.

This flexibility is not only beneficial for handling peak loads but also for optimizing costs, as you only pay for what you need. Additionally, cloud environments often provide a variety of services and configurations, allowing organizations to adapt their IT infrastructure without the need for extensive physical hardware investments or long-term commitments.

The other options highlight characteristics that do not align with the advantages of cloud computing; it generally reduces physical storage needs rather than increasing them, lowers initial setup costs due to reduced investment in on-premise infrastructure, and provides improved accessibility to data compared to traditional systems.