The answer is read and write (admin) access. This is correct because the IAM policy assigns the roles/storage.objectAdmin role to the data-team group, and Alice, as a group member, inherits that role, granting her full control over bucket objects including read, write, and delete permissions. On the Google Professional Cloud Architect exam, this scenario tests your understanding of IAM group policy inheritance and how roles like objectAdmin map to specific object access in Cloud Storage. A common trap is confusing object-level roles with bucket-level roles—objectAdmin does not grant bucket configuration rights, only object operations. Remember the memory tip: “Group inherits, objectAdmin rules objects,” meaning group membership passes the role, and objectAdmin covers all object actions.
Google PCA Manage implementation of cloud architecture Practice Question
This PCA practice question tests your understanding of manage implementation of cloud architecture. 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.
You are reviewing an IAM policy for a Cloud Storage bucket. Alice is a member of the data-team group. What level of access does Alice have to objects in this bucket?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Read and write access (admin).
Option C is correct because the IAM policy grants the data-team group the roles/storage.objectAdmin role, which provides full read, write, and delete access to objects in the bucket. Alice, as a member of the data-team group, inherits this role and therefore has read and write (admin) access to the objects.
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.
✗
Read-only access.
Why it's wrong here
She also has admin via group.
✗
No access, because the group policy overrides the individual policy.
Why it's wrong here
IAM policies are additive, not overriding.
✓
Read and write access (admin).
Why this is correct
Her effective permissions are the union of both roles.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Write-only access.
Why it's wrong here
She has both read and write.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that group policies override individual policies (a common RBAC misunderstanding), but in Google Cloud IAM, all applicable policies are additive unless a deny rule is explicitly applied.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
IAM policies in Google Cloud are evaluated using a union model, where the effective permissions are the sum of all granted roles at the project, folder, and resource levels. The roles/storage.objectAdmin role includes permissions like storage.objects.get, storage.objects.list, storage.objects.create, storage.objects.update, and storage.objects.delete. In a real-world scenario, if Alice were also a member of a group with a deny policy, the deny would take precedence over the allow, but no such deny is present here.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this PCA question in full detail.
Manage implementation of cloud architecture — This question tests Manage implementation of cloud architecture — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Read and write access (admin). — Option C is correct because the IAM policy grants the data-team group the roles/storage.objectAdmin role, which provides full read, write, and delete access to objects in the bucket. Alice, as a member of the data-team group, inherits this role and therefore has read and write (admin) access to the objects.
What should I do if I get this PCA 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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Question Discussion
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