SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
A company is migrating a legacy application that uses a third-party identity provider (IdP) for authentication. The application currently uses SAML 2.0. The company wants to use AWS IAM Identity Center for centralized access management. What is the best approach to integrate the IdP with AWS?
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
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Configure IAM Identity Center to use the existing IdP as the identity source via SAML 2.0 federation
AWS IAM Identity Center supports SAML 2.0 federation with external identity providers (IdPs). This allows centralized access management without duplicating identities. Option A is incorrect because AWS Directory Service for Microsoft AD is for Active Directory synchronization, not generic SAML federation. Option B is incorrect because creating IAM users for every employee would duplicate identities and increase administrative overhead. Option D is incorrect because Amazon Cognito user pools are designed for customer-facing applications, not for enterprise SSO with existing IdPs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Use AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory to synchronize with the IdP
Why it's wrong here
Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory synchronises directory objects, not SAML 2.0 authentication assertions, so it cannot federate the third-party IdP into IAM Identity Center. It is tempting because it integrates on-premises identities with AWS, and would be correct for AD-joined workloads needing domain authentication.
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Create IAM users for each employee and assign groups and permissions
Why it's wrong here
Creating IAM users bypasses the third-party IdP entirely, so SAML 2.0 authentication and IAM Identity Center's centralised access management are both lost. IAM users suit small numbers of standalone AWS identities with no external directory, not federating an existing corporate IdP.
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Configure IAM Identity Center to use the existing IdP as the identity source via SAML 2.0 federation
Why this is correct
IAM Identity Center can consume the existing IdP as its identity source through SAML 2.0 federation, so users authenticate against the third-party IdP while Identity Center handles centralised AWS access assignment. This preserves the current SAML 2.0 investment.
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Use Amazon Cognito user pools with the IdP as a SAML identity provider
Why it's wrong here
Cognito user pools federate SAML for customer-facing application sign-in, not workforce access to AWS accounts and permission sets. IAM Identity Center is the service that consumes the IdP's SAML assertions to issue AWS role credentials; Cognito cannot grant that account access.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
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