In cloud computing, what does the term 'scalability' refer to?

Scalability in cloud computing refers to the ability to increase or decrease IT resources—such as computing power, storage capacity, and bandwidth—according to demand. This flexibility allows organizations to efficiently manage workload changes without having to invest in physical infrastructure. For instance, if a business experiences a sudden influx of users, it can scale up resources instantly to handle the increased load. Conversely, during periods of lower demand, it can scale down to save costs, making it a critical feature of cloud solutions that supports dynamic business needs.

Other concepts like maintaining security across multiple servers and performance optimization are certainly important in an IT environment but do not specifically define scalability. Data replication is also a crucial aspect of data management and security but is not related to the concept of scalability, which focuses on resource adjustment in response to changes in demand.