The correct step is to enable IAM Identity Center in the management account and then register the member account as a delegated administrator. This two-step process is required because IAM Identity Center must first be activated at the organization root level to establish it as the central identity source, after which the RegisterDelegatedAdministrator API or console action grants the member account permission to manage users, groups, and permission sets without exposing management account credentials. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this concept tests your understanding of the separation of duties and least-privilege principles within AWS Organizations, often appearing in scenario-based questions about scaling identity management across multiple accounts. A common trap is assuming you can simply assign IAM roles to a member account—IAM Identity Center delegation is a distinct registration process, not a role-based permission. Remember the mnemonic: Enable first, then delegate—like turning on the lights before handing over the switch.
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 is using AWS Organizations and wants to delegate administration of AWS IAM Identity Center (successor to AWS SSO) to a member account. Which step is required?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Enable IAM Identity Center in the management account and then register the member account as a delegated administrator.
To delegate administration of IAM Identity Center to a member account, you must first enable IAM Identity Center in the management account. Then, you can register the member account as a delegated administrator using the IAM Identity Center console or the RegisterDelegatedAdministrator API. This allows the member account to manage IAM Identity Center settings, users, and groups without requiring management account credentials.
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.
✓
Enable IAM Identity Center in the management account and then register the member account as a delegated administrator.
Why this is correct
This is the standard process to delegate administration.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Create a service control policy that allows the member account to manage IAM Identity Center.
Why it's wrong here
SCPs cannot grant permissions to manage IAM Identity Center; delegation is done via the IAM Identity Center console.
✗
Use AWS CloudFormation StackSets to deploy IAM Identity Center configurations to the member account.
Why it's wrong here
CloudFormation does not manage IAM Identity Center delegation.
✗
Set up AWS Config rules to enforce IAM Identity Center settings in the member account.
Why it's wrong here
Config rules are not used for delegation.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse service control policies (SCPs) with delegation mechanisms, assuming an SCP can grant administrative rights, when in fact SCPs only deny or allow existing permissions and cannot delegate IAM Identity Center administration.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, IAM Identity Center uses the RegisterDelegatedAdministrator API (part of the AWS Organizations API) to designate a member account as a delegated administrator. Once registered, the member account gains the ability to call IAM Identity Center APIs (e.g., CreateUser, CreatePermissionSet) within the organization, while the management account retains the ability to deregister the delegation. This is distinct from using SCPs, which only restrict permissions and cannot grant new capabilities.
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.
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.
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: Enable IAM Identity Center in the management account and then register the member account as a delegated administrator. — To delegate administration of IAM Identity Center to a member account, you must first enable IAM Identity Center in the management account. Then, you can register the member account as a delegated administrator using the IAM Identity Center console or the RegisterDelegatedAdministrator API. This allows the member account to manage IAM Identity Center settings, users, and groups without requiring management account credentials.
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.
About these practice questions
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These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company is using AWS Organizations and wants to delegate administration of AWS IAM Identity Center (successor to AWS SSO) to a specific member account. What must be done?
medium
A.Create an IAM role in the member account with permissions to manage Identity Center
✓ B.Use the AWS Organizations console to register the member account as a delegated administrator for IAM Identity Center
C.Attach an SCP to the member account allowing Identity Center actions
D.Create a new user in the management account with admin privileges
Why B: To delegate administration of IAM Identity Center to a specific member account in AWS Organizations, you must register that account as a delegated administrator using the AWS Organizations console or API. This grants the member account the necessary permissions to manage Identity Center settings, users, and groups without requiring the management account to perform all tasks. Option B is correct because it follows the official AWS mechanism for delegating administrative control of Identity Center to a member account.
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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.
Question Discussion
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