Which term refers to hosted applications and services offered by a third party?

The term that best describes hosted applications and services offered by a third party is cloud computing. This concept encompasses a range of services, including data storage, processing, and software applications that are delivered over the internet. Cloud computing allows users to access and utilize these resources on-demand without the need for local infrastructure, which is one of its most significant advantages.

By relying on third-party providers, businesses and individuals can benefit from scalable resources, flexibility, and typically a pay-as-you-go pricing model, which can efficiently match their needs without heavy investment in hardware or maintenance. This is indicative of the cloud model, where the underlying infrastructure is managed by the service provider and made available to users through the internet.

In contrast, the other terms refer to different hosting arrangements: virtual hosting typically involves sharing a single server's resources with multiple websites, shared hosting is a more specific form of virtual hosting where many websites run on the same server and share its resources, and dedicated hosting provides a single server dedicated to one client, which does not embody the third-party service model found in cloud computing. Each of these alternatives lacks the broad accessibility, scalability, and service delivery model that defines cloud computing.