- A
A policy that denies all IAM and organization actions except for viewing.
Why wrong: This prevents administrators from managing IAM roles and policies.
- B
A policy that allows all IAM actions and denies organizations:CreateAccount and organizations:UpdateOrganizationalUnit.
Why wrong: This still allows full IAM access, which includes the ability to modify OU structure indirectly? Actually, IAM actions don't affect OU structure, but it allows too much.
- C
A policy that allows organizations:* and IAM:* except for DeleteOrganization and RemoveAccountFromOrganization.
Why wrong: This allows creating accounts and modifying OU structure.
- D
A policy that allows iam:* and denies organizations:CreateAccount, organizations:CreateOrganizationalUnit, organizations:UpdateOrganizationalUnit, and organizations:DeleteOrganizationalUnit.
This allows IAM management while denying organization structure changes.
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 has a central IT team that manages AWS resources for multiple business units using AWS Organizations. Each business unit has its own OU. The central team needs to allow each OU's administrators to manage their own IAM roles and policies, but prevent them from modifying the OU structure or creating new accounts. Which IAM policy should be attached to the administrators in the management account?
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
A policy that allows iam:* and denies organizations:CreateAccount, organizations:CreateOrganizationalUnit, organizations:UpdateOrganizationalUnit, and organizations:DeleteOrganizationalUnit.
Option D is correct because it grants the OU administrators full IAM permissions (iam:*) to manage roles and policies within their own OUs, while explicitly denying the specific Organizations API actions that could alter the OU structure (CreateOrganizationalUnit, UpdateOrganizationalUnit, DeleteOrganizationalUnit) or create new accounts (CreateAccount). This policy ensures administrators can perform their required tasks without being able to modify the organizational hierarchy or provision new accounts, aligning with the principle of least privilege.
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.
- ✗
A policy that denies all IAM and organization actions except for viewing.
Why it's wrong here
This prevents administrators from managing IAM roles and policies.
- ✗
A policy that allows all IAM actions and denies organizations:CreateAccount and organizations:UpdateOrganizationalUnit.
Why it's wrong here
This still allows full IAM access, which includes the ability to modify OU structure indirectly? Actually, IAM actions don't affect OU structure, but it allows too much.
- ✗
A policy that allows organizations:* and IAM:* except for DeleteOrganization and RemoveAccountFromOrganization.
Why it's wrong here
This allows creating accounts and modifying OU structure.
- ✓
A policy that allows iam:* and denies organizations:CreateAccount, organizations:CreateOrganizationalUnit, organizations:UpdateOrganizationalUnit, and organizations:DeleteOrganizationalUnit.
Why this is correct
This allows IAM management while denying organization structure changes.
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 confuse IAM policies with Service Control Policies (SCPs) or forget to deny all relevant OU-modifying actions (CreateOrganizationalUnit, UpdateOrganizationalUnit, DeleteOrganizationalUnit) in addition to CreateAccount, leading them to choose an incomplete policy like Option B.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS Organizations uses a hierarchical structure where the management account has full control, and Service Control Policies (SCPs) are applied at the OU level to restrict member accounts. However, the question specifies attaching an IAM policy to administrators in the management account, not an SCP; IAM policies in the management account can directly control access to Organizations API actions like CreateAccount (which requires the organizations:CreateAccount permission) and OU-modifying actions. The deny effect in an IAM policy overrides any allow, so explicitly denying the four listed actions ensures that even if other policies grant broader access, these critical operations are blocked.
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.
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Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAP-C02 question test?
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: A policy that allows iam:* and denies organizations:CreateAccount, organizations:CreateOrganizationalUnit, organizations:UpdateOrganizationalUnit, and organizations:DeleteOrganizationalUnit. — Option D is correct because it grants the OU administrators full IAM permissions (iam:*) to manage roles and policies within their own OUs, while explicitly denying the specific Organizations API actions that could alter the OU structure (CreateOrganizationalUnit, UpdateOrganizationalUnit, DeleteOrganizationalUnit) or create new accounts (CreateAccount). This policy ensures administrators can perform their required tasks without being able to modify the organizational hierarchy or provision new accounts, aligning with the principle of least privilege.
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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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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