What does the term "elasticity" refer to in cloud services?

The term "elasticity" in the context of cloud services specifically refers to the capability of a cloud infrastructure to automatically adjust resources in response to varying demand. This means that as the workload increases, the cloud service can provision additional resources to accommodate the extra demand seamlessly. Conversely, when the demand decreases, the service can scale back resources to save costs and optimize efficiency.

This feature is one of the fundamental characteristics of cloud computing, allowing businesses to be flexible and agile in their operations. Elasticity enables organizations to effectively manage workloads without the need for manual intervention, thus improving both performance and cost-effectiveness.

In contrast, handling security threats pertains to a different aspect of cloud services—security management. Providing backup solutions relates to data protection and application recovery, while integrating with various applications involves interoperability, which, although important, does not define elasticity in the cloud computing context.