The answer is Microsoft Entra Privileged Identity Management with access reviews. This design is correct because PIM enforces just-in-time privileged role assignments with time-bound activation, while integrated access reviews require users to periodically justify their continued access, directly satisfying the monthly review and justification requirement. On the Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how PIM’s approval workflows and expiration policies align with governance and compliance needs for privileged roles across multiple subscriptions. A common trap is choosing Azure AD roles alone or manual review processes, which lack automated justification and time limits. Remember the memory tip: PIM + Access Reviews = Prove It Monthly, meaning privileged users must prove their need each month through automated reviews.
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 multinational company uses Microsoft Entra ID and several Azure subscriptions. Security administrators need to review privileged role assignments every month and require justification for continued access. Which design should be recommended?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Microsoft Entra Privileged Identity Management with access reviews
Microsoft Entra Privileged Identity Management (PIM) with access reviews is the correct design because it provides time-bound, just-in-time privileged role assignments and requires users to periodically justify their continued access through automated access reviews. This directly meets the monthly review and justification requirement for privileged roles, as PIM integrates with Entra ID to enforce approval workflows and expiration policies.
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.
✗
Azure Monitor metric alerts
Why it's wrong here
Metric alerts detect telemetry thresholds, not privileged access justification.
✗
Management group locks
Why it's wrong here
Locks protect resources from deletion or modification, not identity review.
✓
Microsoft Entra Privileged Identity Management with access reviews
Why this is correct
PIM supports eligible role assignments, activation controls, and access reviews for privileged roles.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Azure Policy guest configuration
Why it's wrong here
Guest configuration audits VM settings, not privileged identity assignments.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Azure RBAC management tools (like management locks or Azure Policy) with identity governance tools, mistakenly thinking they can control user role assignments, when in fact only Entra ID PIM provides the required review and justification workflow for privileged roles.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, PIM access reviews leverage Azure AD Graph API to query role assignments and send notifications to reviewers via email, with results automatically applied to remove users who do not respond or are denied. A subtle behavior is that access reviews can be configured to stop inactive users from being renewed, using sign-in activity data from Entra ID audit logs, which is critical for enforcing least privilege in large enterprises. In a real-world scenario, a multinational company might combine PIM with conditional access policies to require multi-factor authentication before activating a privileged role, adding an extra layer of security.
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-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: Microsoft Entra Privileged Identity Management with access reviews — Microsoft Entra Privileged Identity Management (PIM) with access reviews is the correct design because it provides time-bound, just-in-time privileged role assignments and requires users to periodically justify their continued access through automated access reviews. This directly meets the monthly review and justification requirement for privileged roles, as PIM integrates with Entra ID to enforce approval workflows and expiration policies.
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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
This AZ-305 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft 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 AZ-305 exam.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.