- A
Use AWS Organizations to define a tag policy that mandates the cost center tag.
Tag policies can enforce tags on resources during creation and prevent non-compliant resource creation.
- B
Use AWS Config rules to detect untagged resources and trigger a Lambda function to add the tag.
Why wrong: While this can add tags, it does not prevent creation of untagged resources; it's reactive.
- C
Use AWS CloudFormation templates that enforce tagging and use StackSets to deploy across accounts.
CloudFormation can mandate tags during resource creation.
- D
Create a service control policy (SCP) that denies resource creation if the required tag is not present, for supported services.
SCPs can deny actions that do not include specific tags.
- E
Enable AWS Cost Explorer to report on untagged resources.
Why wrong: Reporting does not enforce tagging.
SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design solutions for organizational complexity. 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 has multiple AWS accounts and wants to ensure that all resources are tagged with a cost center tag. Which THREE steps should they take to enforce this?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Use AWS Organizations to define a tag policy that mandates the cost center tag.
Option A is correct because AWS Organizations tag policies allow you to define rules for tagging resources across accounts in your organization. By specifying the cost center tag as mandatory in a tag policy, you can enforce that all resources must have this tag, and any non-compliant resources can be reported or prevented from being created, depending on the policy's enforcement mode.
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.
- ✓
Use AWS Organizations to define a tag policy that mandates the cost center tag.
Why this is correct
Tag policies can enforce tags on resources during creation and prevent non-compliant resource creation.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use AWS Config rules to detect untagged resources and trigger a Lambda function to add the tag.
Why it's wrong here
While this can add tags, it does not prevent creation of untagged resources; it's reactive.
- ✓
Use AWS CloudFormation templates that enforce tagging and use StackSets to deploy across accounts.
Why this is correct
CloudFormation can mandate tags during resource creation.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✓
Create a service control policy (SCP) that denies resource creation if the required tag is not present, for supported services.
Why this is correct
SCPs can deny actions that do not include specific tags.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Enable AWS Cost Explorer to report on untagged resources.
Why it's wrong here
Reporting does not enforce tagging.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse detective controls (like AWS Config rules) with preventive controls (like tag policies or SCPs), and may select option B thinking it enforces tagging, when it only remediates after the fact.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Tag policies in AWS Organizations use a JSON-based policy language that defines allowed tags and their values, and can be set to 'enforce' mode to prevent creation of resources that don't comply. Under the hood, tag policies are evaluated during resource creation by AWS CloudTrail and AWS Config, and non-compliant resources can be automatically remediated or blocked. In a real-world scenario, combining tag policies with SCPs (as in option D) provides both preventive and detective controls, ensuring that even if a tag policy is bypassed, the SCP denies the API call.
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 startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAP-C02 question test?
Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — This question tests Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use AWS Organizations to define a tag policy that mandates the cost center tag. — Option A is correct because AWS Organizations tag policies allow you to define rules for tagging resources across accounts in your organization. By specifying the cost center tag as mandatory in a tag policy, you can enforce that all resources must have this tag, and any non-compliant resources can be reported or prevented from being created, depending on the policy's enforcement mode.
What should I do if I get this SAP-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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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
This SAP-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SAP-C02 exam.
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