- A
Use Azure Policy with 'Audit' effect to report non-compliant resources. Use Azure RBAC to assign Owner role to IT team.
Why wrong: 'Audit' only reports; it does not enforce approval. Owner role is too permissive.
- B
Use Azure Policy with 'Append' effect to automatically add required tags at creation. Use Azure Monitor alerts for non-compliance.
Why wrong: 'Append' does not enforce approval; it just adds tags.
- C
Create an Azure Policy with 'DeployIfNotExists' to deploy a tagging template. Use Azure RBAC to assign Contributor role to IT team.
Why wrong: 'DeployIfNotExists' does not block creation; it remediates after creation.
- D
Create a custom RBAC role that allows only the IT team to add a specific 'Approved' tag. Use Azure Policy with 'Deny' effect to block resources without that tag. Use a separate 'Audit' policy for other tagging standards.
This enforces approval through RBAC and policy denial, and audits other tags.
Quick Answer
The correct answer is to create a custom RBAC role that allows only the IT team to add a specific 'Approved' tag, use Azure Policy with a 'Deny' effect to block resources without that tag, and a separate 'Audit' policy for other tagging standards. This design works because the custom RBAC role enforces separation of duties by restricting who can apply the approval tag, while the Deny policy prevents any resource creation that bypasses IT approval, effectively gating all deployments through the central team. The separate Audit policy then automatically reports non-compliant resources against broader tagging standards, meeting the reporting requirement without blocking operations. On the AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your ability to combine Azure Policy effects with RBAC scoping for governance—a common trap is confusing 'Deny' with 'Audit' or forgetting that RBAC controls who can apply a tag, while Policy controls what happens if the tag is missing. A useful memory tip: "RBAC gates the who, Policy gates the what—Deny to block, Audit to report."
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.
Your company is implementing a new Azure subscription for a project that requires strict separation of duties. The security team requires that all resource creation must be approved by a central IT team. Additionally, any resource that does not comply with company tagging standards should be automatically reported. You need to design a solution that meets these requirements using Azure Policy and Azure Role-Based Access Control (RBAC). What should you do?
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
Create a custom RBAC role that allows only the IT team to add a specific 'Approved' tag. Use Azure Policy with 'Deny' effect to block resources without that tag. Use a separate 'Audit' policy for other tagging standards.
Option D is correct because it uses a custom RBAC role to restrict the ability to add an 'Approved' tag to the IT team, combined with a Deny policy that blocks creation of any resource lacking that tag, ensuring all resource creation requires IT approval. The separate Audit policy automatically reports resources that fail to meet other company tagging standards, fulfilling both the approval and compliance reporting requirements without manual intervention.
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.
- ✗
Use Azure Policy with 'Audit' effect to report non-compliant resources. Use Azure RBAC to assign Owner role to IT team.
Why it's wrong here
'Audit' only reports; it does not enforce approval. Owner role is too permissive.
- ✗
Use Azure Policy with 'Append' effect to automatically add required tags at creation. Use Azure Monitor alerts for non-compliance.
Why it's wrong here
'Append' does not enforce approval; it just adds tags.
- ✗
Create an Azure Policy with 'DeployIfNotExists' to deploy a tagging template. Use Azure RBAC to assign Contributor role to IT team.
Why it's wrong here
'DeployIfNotExists' does not block creation; it remediates after creation.
- ✓
Create a custom RBAC role that allows only the IT team to add a specific 'Approved' tag. Use Azure Policy with 'Deny' effect to block resources without that tag. Use a separate 'Audit' policy for other tagging standards.
Why this is correct
This enforces approval through RBAC and policy denial, and audits other tags.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often think a simple RBAC role assignment (like Owner or Contributor) combined with an Audit policy is sufficient, but they overlook the need for a Deny policy to actively block unapproved resource creation, which is essential for strict separation of duties.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Azure Policy's Deny effect uses a deny action that is evaluated during the resource creation request (PUT/PATCH) at the Azure Resource Manager layer, effectively blocking any operation that does not include the required tag. The custom RBAC role leverages Azure's role definition with 'Microsoft.Resources/tags/write' permission scoped to the 'Approved' tag, ensuring only the IT team can add that specific tag. This combination enforces a pre-approval gate at the API level, while the Audit policy logs non-compliant resources to Azure Activity Log for automated reporting via Azure Monitor or Event Grid.
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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-305 question test?
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: Create a custom RBAC role that allows only the IT team to add a specific 'Approved' tag. Use Azure Policy with 'Deny' effect to block resources without that tag. Use a separate 'Audit' policy for other tagging standards. — Option D is correct because it uses a custom RBAC role to restrict the ability to add an 'Approved' tag to the IT team, combined with a Deny policy that blocks creation of any resource lacking that tag, ensuring all resource creation requires IT approval. The separate Audit policy automatically reports resources that fail to meet other company tagging standards, fulfilling both the approval and compliance reporting requirements without manual intervention.
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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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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.
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