The answer is to use a Service Control Policy (SCP) with a Deny effect for the services you want to restrict. SCPs are the correct mechanism to centrally restrict AWS services across accounts in an Organizational Unit (OU) because they act as a permission guardrail, overriding any IAM policies within the member accounts. This approach is critical for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, which frequently tests your ability to enforce governance at scale using AWS Organizations; a common trap is confusing SCPs with IAM policies or resource-based policies, but remember that SCPs apply to the root user and all principals in the account, making them the only tool for OU-level service restrictions. A helpful memory tip is “SCP = Service Ceiling Policy”—it sets the maximum allowed services, so use Deny to block unwanted ones.
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 uses AWS Organizations with 100 accounts. They want to restrict which AWS services can be used in the development OU. Which TWO steps should they take?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use an SCP with an Allow effect for allowed services.
Service control policies (SCPs) are the correct mechanism to centrally restrict which AWS services can be used across accounts in an AWS Organization. An SCP with an Allow effect explicitly permits only the specified services, while an SCP with a Deny effect blocks the specified services; both approaches achieve the goal of restricting service usage at the OU level. SCPs apply to all IAM users, roles, and root users in the member accounts, making them the appropriate tool for this requirement.
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 CloudFormation StackSets to enforce service usage.
Why it's wrong here
Does not prevent usage outside CloudFormation.
✓
Use an SCP with an Allow effect for allowed services.
Why this is correct
Explicitly allows only specified services.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use AWS Config rules to detect disallowed services.
Why it's wrong here
Reactive, not preventive.
✗
Use IAM policies in each account to deny services.
Why it's wrong here
Not centrally managed.
✓
Use an SCP with a Deny effect for services not allowed.
Why this is correct
Denies services at the OU level.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose AWS Config rules (option C) thinking detective controls can prevent actions, but Config is reactive and cannot block service usage; only SCPs or IAM permissions boundaries can proactively restrict services.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
SCPs are evaluated before IAM policies and resource-based policies, and they do not grant permissions themselves; they define the maximum available permissions for accounts in the OU. An Allow list SCP (option B) requires that every allowed service be explicitly listed, and any service not listed is implicitly denied, which can be cumbersome to maintain. A Deny list SCP (option E) is often more practical because it blocks only specific services while allowing all others by default, and it can use conditions like `aws:SourceOrgID` to prevent bypasses.
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: Use an SCP with an Allow effect for allowed services. — Service control policies (SCPs) are the correct mechanism to centrally restrict which AWS services can be used across accounts in an AWS Organization. An SCP with an Allow effect explicitly permits only the specified services, while an SCP with a Deny effect blocks the specified services; both approaches achieve the goal of restricting service usage at the OU level. SCPs apply to all IAM users, roles, and root users in the member accounts, making them the appropriate tool for this requirement.
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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Question Discussion
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