SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company uses AWS CloudFormation to manage infrastructure. They want to detect drift from the intended template configuration. Which service should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
SAP-C02 often tests the confusion between AWS Config (compliance/configuration history) and CloudFormation Drift Detection (template-vs-actual comparison) — candidates must pick the service purpose-built for template drift.
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
✓
CloudFormation Drift Detection
CloudFormation Drift Detection compares the actual configuration of stack resources against the expected template configuration and reports resources that have been modified outside of CloudFormation. It is the native feature designed specifically to detect drift for CloudFormation-managed resources. AWS Config can detect configuration changes but is not tied to the template's intended state in the same way.
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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AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config records resource configurations and evaluates them against rules, but it does not compare live resources to a CloudFormation template's expected properties, so it cannot report template drift. CloudFormation drift detection performs that comparison directly. AWS Config suits continuous compliance auditing against defined rules.
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AWS Service Catalog
Why it's wrong here
Service Catalog governs which approved products users may provision and enforces portfolio constraints; it does not compare deployed resource properties against a CloudFormation template. Drift detection is a CloudFormation capability. Service Catalog is correct when standardising and controlling self-service provisioning of approved templates across an organisation.
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AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail records API activity and user actions, not the actual configuration state of provisioned resources, so it cannot compare live resources against a template. Drift detection requires evaluating resource properties. CloudTrail is correct for auditing who changed what and when, not for identifying configuration divergence.
- ✓
CloudFormation Drift Detection
Why this is correct
Drift detection compares each stack's actual resource configurations against the expected template values, reporting per-resource differences. This directly satisfies the requirement to detect deviation from the intended template configuration, without rebuilding or redeploying the stack.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
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.