The answer is to assign the Contributor role at the Dev-Sub subscription scope. This is correct because Azure RBAC is hierarchical, meaning a role assigned at the subscription level automatically applies to all resource groups within that subscription, but it never crosses subscription boundaries—so the administrator gains full permissions to create and manage resource groups in Dev-Sub while having zero access to Prod-Sub. On the AZ-104 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of scope isolation and the principle of least privilege; a common trap is to mistakenly assign the role at the resource group level or to a built-in group that spans both subscriptions. Remember the key rule: subscription scope grants permissions to everything inside that subscription only, and no role assignment can leak across subscriptions. A helpful memory tip is “scope locks the box”—once you assign a role at a subscription scope, it seals that administrator’s access entirely within that subscription’s boundaries.
AZ-104 Manage Azure Identities and Governance Practice Question
This AZ-104 practice question tests your understanding of manage azure identities and governance. 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.
Your company has two subscriptions named Dev-Sub and Prod-Sub. A new administrator must be able to create resource groups only in Dev-Sub and must not have any permissions in Prod-Sub. What should you do?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Assign Contributor to the administrator at the Dev-Sub scope.
Option B is correct because assigning the Contributor role at the Dev-Sub scope grants the administrator full permissions to create and manage resource groups within that subscription, while the role assignment is scoped exclusively to Dev-Sub, ensuring no permissions in Prod-Sub. Azure RBAC is hierarchical, so a role assigned at a subscription scope applies to all resource groups within it, but does not cross subscription boundaries. This meets the requirement of allowing resource group creation only in Dev-Sub with no access to Prod-Sub.
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.
✗
Assign Contributor to the administrator at the management group scope.
Why it's wrong here
A management group assignment would flow to more than Dev-Sub and is too broad.
✓
Assign Contributor to the administrator at the Dev-Sub scope.
Why this is correct
This limits the contributor permissions to Dev-Sub, which matches the requirement.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Assign Owner to the administrator at the resource group scope in Dev-Sub.
Why it's wrong here
Owner is more privileged than necessary and a resource-group scope does not help before the resource group exists.
✗
Assign Reader to the administrator at the Prod-Sub scope and Contributor at the tenant root group.
Why it's wrong here
Contributor at tenant root would grant far more access than required.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the scope required to create resource groups (subscription-level write permission) with the ability to manage existing resource groups (resource group-level permission), leading them to incorrectly choose Option C (Owner at resource group scope) which only allows management of that specific resource group, not creation of new ones.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure RBAC uses a hierarchical scope model: management group > subscription > resource group > resource. To create a resource group, a user needs Microsoft.Resources/subscriptions/resourceGroups/write permission, which is included in the Contributor role at the subscription scope but not at the resource group scope. The tenant root group ('/' scope) is a special management group that includes all subscriptions in the tenant; assigning a role there grants permissions across the entire tenant, which is rarely appropriate and can lead to privilege escalation if not carefully managed.
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.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-104 question in full detail.
Manage Azure Identities and Governance — This question tests Manage Azure Identities and Governance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Assign Contributor to the administrator at the Dev-Sub scope. — Option B is correct because assigning the Contributor role at the Dev-Sub scope grants the administrator full permissions to create and manage resource groups within that subscription, while the role assignment is scoped exclusively to Dev-Sub, ensuring no permissions in Prod-Sub. Azure RBAC is hierarchical, so a role assigned at a subscription scope applies to all resource groups within it, but does not cross subscription boundaries. This meets the requirement of allowing resource group creation only in Dev-Sub with no access to Prod-Sub.
What should I do if I get this AZ-104 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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