This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design solutions for organizational complexity. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 a multi-account strategy. The DevOps team wants to allow developers to launch EC2 instances only in specific Regions and only with approved AMIs. Which AWS service should be used to enforce these controls across all accounts?
AWS Config rules with auto-remediation
Why wrong: Reactive, not preventive.
AWS Service Catalog with a portfolio of approved AMIs
Why wrong: Does not prevent direct EC2 launch.
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies in each account
Why wrong: Not centralized, high overhead.
AWS Organizations Service Control Policies (SCPs)
Correct: SCPs can centrally restrict actions across accounts.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
AWS Organizations Service Control Policies (SCPs)
AWS Organizations Service Control Policies (SCPs) are the correct choice because they allow you to centrally define and enforce permission guardrails across all accounts in your organization. SCPs can restrict EC2 actions to specific Regions using the `aws:RequestedRegion` condition key and limit AMI usage by denying launch actions unless the AMI ID matches an approved list, ensuring compliance without requiring per-account configuration.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
AWS Config rules with auto-remediation
Why it's wrong here
Reactive, not preventive.
AWS Service Catalog with a portfolio of approved AMIs
Why it's wrong here
Does not prevent direct EC2 launch.
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies in each account
Why it's wrong here
Not centralized, high overhead.
AWS Organizations Service Control Policies (SCPs)
Why this is correct
Correct: SCPs can centrally restrict actions across accounts.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse SCPs with IAM policies, thinking that IAM policies in each account can centrally enforce controls, but SCPs are the only mechanism that applies across all accounts in an organization without requiring per-account management.
Detailed technical explanation
SCPs operate as an allow list by default (when using `aws:SourceOrgID` or explicit deny), and they are evaluated before IAM policies—if an SCP denies an action, the request is implicitly denied regardless of IAM permissions. To restrict Regions, you can use the `aws:RequestedRegion` condition key in an SCP with a `Deny` effect for EC2 actions outside allowed Regions, and to restrict AMIs, you can use a `Deny` on `ec2:RunInstances` unless the `ec2:ImageId` matches a specific list of approved AMI IDs. This ensures that even if a developer has full IAM permissions in their account, the SCP will block non-compliant launches at the organization level.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
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FAQ
Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — This question tests Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: AWS Organizations Service Control Policies (SCPs) — AWS Organizations Service Control Policies (SCPs) are the correct choice because they allow you to centrally define and enforce permission guardrails across all accounts in your organization. SCPs can restrict EC2 actions to specific Regions using the `aws:RequestedRegion` condition key and limit AMI usage by denying launch actions unless the AMI ID matches an approved list, ensuring compliance without requiring per-account configuration.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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