The correct answer combines AWS Organizations service control policies, AWS CloudFormation StackSets, and AWS Config rules to enforce standard VPC CIDR and subnet configurations across accounts. SCPs act as a preventive guardrail by denying the creation of VPCs that do not match the approved CIDR range, while CloudFormation StackSets deploy the standardized VPC and subnet templates across all accounts in the organization. AWS Config rules then serve as a detective control, continuously evaluating existing resources and reporting any noncompliant VPCs or subnets that deviate from the standard. On the SAP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the three-layer defense model: preventive (SCPs), proactive (StackSets), and detective (Config). A common trap is choosing IAM roles, which manage permissions but cannot enforce network configurations, or relying solely on reactive monitoring. Remember the mnemonic "P-P-D" for Preventive, Proactive, Detective to recall the correct three-step enforcement strategy.
SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
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 hundreds of accounts. The central IT team needs to ensure that all accounts use a standard set of network configurations, including VPC CIDR blocks and subnets. Which THREE steps should the team take to enforce this standard? (Choose THREE.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use AWS CloudFormation StackSets to deploy standard VPC and subnet configurations to all accounts.
Options A, B, and C are correct. SCPs enforce CIDR restrictions, CloudFormation StackSets deploy standard resources, and Config rules detect noncompliance. Option D is wrong because IAM roles do not enforce network config. Option E is wrong because it is reactive.
Key principle: Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
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 deploy standard VPC and subnet configurations to all accounts.
Common exam trap: usable hosts are not the same as total addresses
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
KKey Concepts to Remember
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
Block size helps identify subnet boundaries.
Network and broadcast addresses are not usable hosts in normal IPv4 subnets.
The required host count determines the smallest suitable subnet.
TExam Day Tips
→Write the block size before choosing the subnet.
→Check whether the question asks for hosts, subnets or a specific address range.
→Do not confuse /24, /25, /26 and /27 host counts.
Key takeaway
Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
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.
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related SAP-C02 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — This question tests Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — CIDR notation defines the prefix length..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use AWS CloudFormation StackSets to deploy standard VPC and subnet configurations to all accounts. — Options A, B, and C are correct. SCPs enforce CIDR restrictions, CloudFormation StackSets deploy standard resources, and Config rules detect noncompliance. Option D is wrong because IAM roles do not enforce network config. Option E is wrong because it is reactive.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related SAP-C02 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
What is the key concept behind this question?
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
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 with hundreds of accounts. The central IT team needs to deploy a common set of AWS resources (e.g., VPCs, subnets, security groups) to all accounts in a specific organizational unit (OU). The solution must be automated and ensure that new accounts added to the OU automatically receive the resources. Which three steps should the team take? (Choose three.)
hard
✓ A.Create a StackSet with the template and target the OU, enabling automatic deployment.
✓ B.Create an AWS CloudFormation template that defines the common resources.
C.Use AWS Config rules to detect missing resources and deploy them via Lambda.
✓ D.Enable AWS CloudFormation StackSets trusted access with AWS Organizations.
E.Create an SCP that requires the creation of those resources.
Why A: Options A, C, and D are correct. AWS CloudFormation StackSets allow deploying templates to multiple accounts and regions; enabling trusted access allows StackSets to work with Organizations; adding new accounts to the OU triggers automatic deployment if StackSets are configured with automatic deployment. Option B is wrong because SCPs cannot create resources. Option E is wrong because AWS Config cannot create resources.
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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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.
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