Quick Answer
The answer is AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS SSO). This service enables centralized IAM user and group management across accounts by providing a single identity source that authenticates users once, then grants federated access to any AWS account within an AWS Organization without requiring separate IAM users or credentials per account. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how to simplify multi-account identity governance while avoiding the administrative overhead of creating duplicate IAM users. A common trap is choosing AWS Organizations alone, which only manages account structure and policies, not user identities; IAM Identity Center is the service that actually centralizes user and group management across accounts. For a memory tip, think “One login to rule them all” — IAM Identity Center is the single sign-on hub that eliminates credential sprawl across your AWS Organization.
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 wants to centralize management of IAM users and groups across multiple AWS accounts. The solution should allow users to access resources in any account without needing separate credentials. Which AWS service should be used?
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Why wrong: IAM is per-account and does not centralize across accounts.
AWS Organizations
Why wrong: Organizations manages accounts, not IAM users.
AWS IAM Identity Center (AWS SSO)
Provides centralized user management and single sign-on.
AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory
Why wrong: Directory Service provides directory but not cross-account access management.
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 IAM Identity Center (AWS SSO)
AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS SSO) is the correct service because it provides a centralized identity source that allows users to sign in once with a single set of credentials and then access multiple AWS accounts and applications. It integrates with AWS Organizations to manage user and group permissions across accounts, eliminating the need for separate IAM users in each account.
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 Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Why it's wrong here
IAM is per-account and does not centralize across accounts.
AWS Organizations
Why it's wrong here
Organizations manages accounts, not IAM users.
AWS IAM Identity Center (AWS SSO)
Why this is correct
Provides centralized user management and single sign-on.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory
Why it's wrong here
Directory Service provides directory but not cross-account access management.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse AWS Organizations with a user management service, but Organizations only manages accounts and policies, not user identities or authentication.
Detailed technical explanation
IAM Identity Center uses the SAML 2.0 protocol to federate access and can be configured with an external identity provider (IdP) or its built-in identity store. Under the hood, it creates temporary, role-based credentials via AWS STS for each user session, ensuring least-privilege access without storing long-term keys. A real-world scenario is a company with 50 accounts using permission sets in IAM Identity Center to assign different levels of access (e.g., read-only for developers, admin for DevOps) without managing individual IAM users.
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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Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — study guide chapter
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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 IAM Identity Center (AWS SSO) — AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS SSO) is the correct service because it provides a centralized identity source that allows users to sign in once with a single set of credentials and then access multiple AWS accounts and applications. It integrates with AWS Organizations to manage user and group permissions across accounts, eliminating the need for separate IAM users in each account.
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 24, 2026
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