PCSE Workforce Identity Federation Practice Question
An organization uses Azure Active Directory as its identity provider. They want to allow employees to access Google Cloud resources using their Azure credentials without provisioning Google Cloud user accounts. Which solution should they implement?
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
✓
Use Workforce Identity Federation to allow Azure AD users to authenticate to GCP.
Workforce Identity Federation allows external identity providers (like Azure AD) to authenticate users via SAML 2.0 or OIDC and map them to Google Cloud resources without provisioning Google user accounts. This is the correct solution for employees using Azure AD credentials.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Set up SAML 2.0 federation between Azure AD and Google Cloud using Cloud Identity.
Why it's wrong here
SAML 2.0 federation is possible, but this option mentions 'using Cloud Identity' which is incorrect; the correct service is Workforce Identity Federation.
- ✗
Create Google Cloud user accounts for all employees and assign IAM roles directly.
Why it's wrong here
Creating Google Cloud user accounts defeats the purpose of using existing Azure AD credentials and is not the recommended solution.
- ✓
Use Workforce Identity Federation to allow Azure AD users to authenticate to GCP.
Why this is correct
Workforce Identity Federation allows Azure AD users to authenticate to GCP without provisioning Google Cloud user accounts, using SAML 2.0 or OIDC.
- ✗
Configure Cloud Directory Sync to synchronize Azure AD users to Google Cloud Directory.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Directory Sync synchronizes users but still requires provisioning Google Cloud user accounts; it does not allow direct authentication with Azure AD credentials.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PCSE practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud 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 PCSE exam.