SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company uses AWS CloudFormation to manage infrastructure. The operations team wants to implement a change management process where all stack updates must be reviewed and approved before execution. The team currently uses AWS CodePipeline for CI/CD. Which solution meets these requirements with the LEAST operational overhead?
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
✓
Create a CodePipeline pipeline with an approval stage before the CloudFormation deployment action.
It leverages the existing CodePipeline CI/CD system with a built-in approval gate, allowing the operations team to review and approve CloudFormation stack updates before deployment with minimal additional overhead. Option A (Change Sets) requires manual execution and lacks integration with the CI/CD pipeline. Option B (Lambda + SNS) introduces custom code and additional management overhead. Option C (Service Catalog) is designed for provisioning new resources, not for change management of existing stacks. Option D (manual CLI + peer review) does not automate the process and increases operational overhead.
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 CloudFormation Change Sets and require a senior engineer to execute them.
Why it's wrong here
Change Sets are manual and do not integrate with CodePipeline for approval workflow.
- ✗
Write an AWS Lambda function that triggers on stack update events and requires approval via Amazon SNS.
Why it's wrong here
Unnecessarily complex compared to CodePipeline's built-in approval.
- ✗
Use AWS Service Catalog to govern CloudFormation templates and require approval for provisioning.
Why it's wrong here
Service Catalog is for provisioning new resources, not for updating existing stacks.
- ✗
Store CloudFormation templates in AWS CodeCommit and use AWS CLI to execute updates after peer review.
Why it's wrong here
No automated approval workflow; relies on manual CLI execution.
- ✓
Create a CodePipeline pipeline with an approval stage before the CloudFormation deployment action.
Why this is correct
CodePipeline supports manual approval actions that pause the pipeline until approval.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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