CSE Industry-Specific Solution Design 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A healthcare client needs a solution that integrates with their EHR system. Which compliance framework is MOST critical to address first?
- SOC 2 Type II
- HIPAA (Correct answer)
- PCI-DSS
- ISO 27001
Correct answer: HIPAA
HIPAA governs the protection of Protected Health Information (PHI) and is the primary regulatory requirement for any healthcare EHR integration.
Question 2: A financial services firm requires real-time fraud detection. Which solution architecture pattern BEST addresses sub-millisecond latency requirements?
- Batch processing with nightly reconciliation
- In-memory stream processing with edge computing (Correct answer)
- Cloud-based data warehouse with scheduled queries
- Microservices with asynchronous message queues
Correct answer: In-memory stream processing with edge computing
In-memory stream processing at the edge minimizes network latency and enables the sub-millisecond response times required for real-time fraud detection.
Question 3: When designing a solution for a retail client with 500+ locations, which factor MOST influences the network architecture recommendation?
- Number of SKUs in their catalog
- SD-WAN vs. MPLS cost and reliability tradeoffs (Correct answer)
- Point-of-sale software vendor
- Number of employees per location
Correct answer: SD-WAN vs. MPLS cost and reliability tradeoffs
SD-WAN vs. MPLS decisions directly impact connectivity reliability, cost, and management complexity across hundreds of distributed retail sites.
Question 4: A manufacturing client wants to reduce unplanned downtime. Which IoT solution design approach BEST enables predictive maintenance?
- Installing RFID tags on all equipment
- Deploying vibration and temperature sensors feeding an ML anomaly detection model (Correct answer)
- Increasing scheduled preventive maintenance intervals
- Replacing aging equipment with newer models
Correct answer: Deploying vibration and temperature sensors feeding an ML anomaly detection model
Sensor data fed into ML anomaly detection models can identify failure patterns before equipment fails, directly enabling predictive maintenance.
Question 5: A government agency client requires a cloud solution but has data sovereignty concerns. Which deployment model BEST addresses this requirement?
- Public cloud with encrypted storage
- Multi-tenant SaaS platform
- Sovereign cloud or government cloud region (Correct answer)
- Hybrid cloud with data replication globally
Correct answer: Sovereign cloud or government cloud region
Sovereign or government-dedicated cloud regions ensure data physically remains within required jurisdictions and meets public sector compliance mandates.
Question 6: An energy utility client needs to modernize their SCADA systems. What is the MOST important security consideration for the proposed solution?
- Multi-factor authentication for all users
- Air-gap or network segmentation between OT and IT networks (Correct answer)
- Endpoint antivirus on all workstations
- Regular penetration testing of web applications
Correct answer: Air-gap or network segmentation between OT and IT networks
Segmenting Operational Technology (OT) networks from IT networks prevents cyberattacks from propagating to critical infrastructure controls.
Question 7: A logistics company wants to optimize last-mile delivery. Which technology combination provides the MOST actionable solution design?
- GPS tracking combined with static route planning software
- AI-based dynamic route optimization integrated with real-time traffic and weather APIs (Correct answer)
- Manual dispatcher routing with driver mobile apps
- Barcode scanning with warehouse management system integration
Correct answer: AI-based dynamic route optimization integrated with real-time traffic and weather APIs
AI-driven dynamic route optimization that incorporates live traffic and weather data continuously improves delivery efficiency and reduces cost per delivery.
A healthcare client needs a solution that integrates with their EHR system.
Which compliance framework is MOST critical to address first?