The answer is AWS IAM Identity Center, which is the correct service for integrating on-premises Active Directory with AWS to enable SSO for employees accessing AWS services. This service, formerly known as AWS SSO, supports federation through SAML 2.0 or SCIM protocols, allowing you to connect your existing Active Directory identity source and centrally manage user access across multiple AWS accounts and business applications. On the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of federation and identity management—a key domain in the security section. A common trap is confusing IAM Identity Center with IAM itself; remember that IAM handles users and roles within a single account, while IAM Identity Center is the cross-account, directory-federation service. For a memory tip, think “SSO = Single Sign-On = IAM Identity Center” and associate the “Center” with centralizing multiple accounts and your on-premises AD.
CLF-C02 Cloud Technology and Services Practice Question
This CLF-C02 practice question tests your understanding of cloud technology and services. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company needs to integrate their on-premises Active Directory with AWS to enable SSO for employees accessing AWS services. Which AWS service provides this federation capability?
Why wrong: Cognito is for authenticating app end-users — it's not designed for workforce/employee SSO to AWS management services.
B
AWS IAM Identity Center
IAM Identity Center integrates with Active Directory to provide SSO access to multiple AWS accounts, with users signing in once to access all their permitted AWS environments.
C
AWS Directory Service AD Connector
Why wrong: AD Connector is a proxy that redirects directory requests to on-premises AD — it's a component used with IAM Identity Center, not the SSO solution itself.
D
AWS IAM roles
Why wrong: IAM roles with SAML federation can enable AD integration but require complex manual configuration — IAM Identity Center provides a much simpler managed SSO solution.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
AWS IAM Identity Center
AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS SSO) is the correct service for integrating on-premises Active Directory with AWS to enable single sign-on (SSO) for employees accessing AWS services. It supports federation via SAML 2.0 or SCIM protocols, allowing you to connect your existing AD identity source and centrally manage user access to multiple AWS accounts and business applications.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Amazon Cognito
Why it's wrong here
Cognito is for authenticating app end-users — it's not designed for workforce/employee SSO to AWS management services.
✓
AWS IAM Identity Center
Why this is correct
IAM Identity Center integrates with Active Directory to provide SSO access to multiple AWS accounts, with users signing in once to access all their permitted AWS environments.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
AWS Directory Service AD Connector
Why it's wrong here
AD Connector is a proxy that redirects directory requests to on-premises AD — it's a component used with IAM Identity Center, not the SSO solution itself.
✗
AWS IAM roles
Why it's wrong here
IAM roles with SAML federation can enable AD integration but require complex manual configuration — IAM Identity Center provides a much simpler managed SSO solution.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse AWS Directory Service AD Connector (which only proxies authentication) with the full SSO and access management capabilities of IAM Identity Center, leading them to choose Option C.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, IAM Identity Center creates a trusted relationship with your on-premises AD using either an AWS Managed Microsoft AD directory (with two-way trust) or an external IdP via SAML 2.0. Once configured, it generates temporary AWS credentials for users based on permission sets (collections of IAM policies), and these credentials are automatically rotated, reducing the risk of long-term key exposure. A real-world scenario is a company with thousands of employees in AD needing fine-grained access to hundreds of AWS accounts; IAM Identity Center simplifies this by centralizing user assignment and access reviews.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this CLF-C02 question in full detail.
Cloud Technology and Services — This question tests Cloud Technology and Services — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: AWS IAM Identity Center — AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS SSO) is the correct service for integrating on-premises Active Directory with AWS to enable single sign-on (SSO) for employees accessing AWS services. It supports federation via SAML 2.0 or SCIM protocols, allowing you to connect your existing AD identity source and centrally manage user access to multiple AWS accounts and business applications.
What should I do if I get this CLF-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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