AZ-305 Practice Question: Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions
This AZ-305 practice question tests your understanding of design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions. 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 must prevent non-compliant devices from accessing Exchange Online and SharePoint Online. Which design should you recommend?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Conditional Access policy requiring a compliant device.
Conditional Access policies in Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) can enforce device compliance by integrating with Microsoft Intune. When a policy requires a compliant device, it checks the device's compliance status before granting access to Exchange Online and SharePoint Online, blocking non-compliant devices at the authentication layer. This is the correct design because it directly controls access to these cloud services based on device health.
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.
✓
Conditional Access policy requiring a compliant device.
Why this is correct
This uses device compliance as an access-control signal for cloud apps.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Azure Firewall application rule.
Why it's wrong here
Azure Firewall does not evaluate Entra device compliance for Microsoft 365 access.
✗
Storage account network rule.
Why it's wrong here
Storage firewall rules do not control Exchange or SharePoint access.
✗
Resource lock on the Microsoft 365 tenant.
Why it's wrong here
Resource locks do not enforce user sign-in conditions.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse network-level controls (like Azure Firewall) with identity-driven access controls (like Conditional Access), assuming a firewall can filter SaaS traffic, but Azure Firewall cannot inspect or enforce device compliance for Microsoft 365 services.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Conditional Access policies leverage the device compliance signal from Microsoft Intune, which evaluates criteria such as encryption status, jailbreak detection, and required updates. The policy is evaluated at the token issuance stage in Microsoft Entra ID, so non-compliant devices are denied access before any data is transmitted. In a real-world scenario, you can combine this with a 'Require approved client app' policy to further restrict access to managed applications only.
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 AZ-305 question in full detail.
Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions — This question tests Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Conditional Access policy requiring a compliant device. — Conditional Access policies in Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) can enforce device compliance by integrating with Microsoft Intune. When a policy requires a compliant device, it checks the device's compliance status before granting access to Exchange Online and SharePoint Online, blocking non-compliant devices at the authentication layer. This is the correct design because it directly controls access to these cloud services based on device health.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 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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