KCNA Cloud Native Architecture Practice Question
An organization wants to manage infrastructure using code to ensure consistent and repeatable deployments across multiple cloud providers. Which tool is MOST suitable for this multi-cloud Infrastructure as Code approach?
⚠ Common exam trap
KCNA often tests whether candidates recognize that cloud-native IaC tools (CloudFormation, ARM) are single-cloud by design, so they incorrectly pick one of them for a multi-cloud requirement.
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
✓
Terraform
Terraform is provider-agnostic and supports AWS, Azure, GCP, and hundreds of other providers through a plugin architecture, making it the most suitable tool for defining infrastructure as code across multiple clouds with a single workflow and state model. Its HCL configuration and plan/apply cycle give consistent, repeatable deployments regardless of the target cloud.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Terraform
Why this is correct
Terraform uses providers to manage resources across AWS, Azure and Google Cloud from one declarative configuration and state file. This provider-based architecture delivers consistent, repeatable multi-cloud infrastructure as code, which single-cloud native tools such as CloudFormation cannot match.
- ✗
Kuberntes manifests
Why it's wrong here
Kubernetes manifests declare workloads for a Kubernetes cluster, not cloud infrastructure such as networks, databases or IAM roles across providers. They are the right choice for deploying applications to Kubernetes. Multi-cloud infrastructure as code requires a provider-agnostic tool such as Terraform with separate provider plugins.
- ✗
AWS CloudFormation
Why it's wrong here
AWS CloudFormation provisions resources within AWS accounts only, using AWS-specific resource types and stacks. It is the right choice for AWS-only infrastructure as code. Managing consistent deployments across multiple cloud providers requires a provider-agnostic tool such as Terraform, which targets each cloud through separate providers.
- ✗
Azure Resource Manager Templates
Why it's wrong here
Azure Resource Manager Templates are JSON declarations scoped to Azure resources only; they cannot provision AWS or Google Cloud infrastructure. They are the correct choice for Azure-only deployments using native tooling. A multi-cloud requirement needs a provider-agnostic tool such as Terraform with per-cloud providers.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CNCF exam blueprint
This KCNA practice question is part of Courseiva's free CNCF 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 KCNA exam.