AZ-900 Describe Azure management and governance Practice Question
A company wants to query all Azure resources across multiple subscriptions to find all storage accounts without encryption enabled. They need to use a powerful query language to filter and join data. Which Azure tool should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse Azure Resource Graph (a resource inventory query tool) with Azure Monitor Logs (a telemetry and log analytics tool), as both use KQL but target fundamentally different data sources—resource properties vs. operational logs.
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
✓
Azure Resource Graph
Azure Resource Graph (ARG) is the correct tool because it provides a powerful, Kusto Query Language (KQL)-based query engine that can explore Azure resources across multiple subscriptions, resource groups, and management groups. It allows you to filter, project, and join resource data (e.g., find all storage accounts where encryption is disabled) using a single query, making it ideal for cross-subscription resource discovery and compliance checks.
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 Resource Graph
Why this is correct
Azure Resource Graph is a query service that lets you explore Azure resources across all your subscriptions using the Kusto Query Language (KQL). It supports complex filtering, grouping, and projection of resource properties, making it the right tool for ad-hoc inventory queries and discovering resources with specific configurations. Unlike telemetry or policy services, it is purpose-built for resource-level exploration at scale, returning a live view of the resource inventory.
- ✗
Azure Monitor Logs
Why it's wrong here
Azure Monitor Logs collects operational telemetry such as performance counters, application traces, and diagnostic logs generated by resources, storing them in Log Analytics workspaces. It is designed to analyze data emitted from resources over time, not to query the resource inventory itself, so it cannot efficiently list or search for resources based on their metadata or configuration. For this scenario, you need a resource-level query interface, which Azure Monitor Logs does not provide.
- ✗
Azure Advisor
Why it's wrong here
Azure Advisor is a recommendation engine that continuously analyzes your deployed resources and usage patterns to provide best-practice guidance in areas like cost, security, reliability, operational excellence, and performance. It surfaces curated, actionable recommendations rather than supporting custom, ad-hoc queries across all resources, so it cannot be used to find resources by arbitrary criteria. Its output is a fixed set of recommendations, not an interactive query interface.
When this WOULD be correct
A company wants to get recommendations on how to improve security, performance, and cost for their Azure resources, such as enabling encryption on storage accounts. Azure Advisor would be the correct tool to provide these best practice recommendations.
- ✗
Azure Policy
Why it's wrong here
Azure Policy is a governance tool that enforces organizational rules and evaluates resources for compliance using policy definitions and initiatives, with effects such as deny, audit, or modify. While it does evaluate resource properties, its primary function is to manage and enforce policies, not to serve as a generic query engine; users cannot run arbitrary KQL queries or perform unplanned resource discovery. Compliance results are scoped to policy assignments, not a full inventory query capability.
When this WOULD be correct
A company needs to ensure that all new storage accounts are automatically denied if encryption is not enabled, and audit existing ones for compliance. Azure Policy would be the correct tool to define and enforce such a rule across subscriptions.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The AZ-900 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Azure Resource GraphCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
Azure Resource Graph is a query service that lets you explore Azure resources across all your subscriptions using the Kusto Query Language (KQL). It supports complex filtering, grouping, and projection of resource properties, making it the right tool for ad-hoc inventory queries and discovering resources with specific configurations. Unlike telemetry or policy services, it is purpose-built for resource-level exploration at scale, returning a live view of the resource inventory.
✗Azure AdvisorWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Azure Advisor provides personalized recommendations for best practices, but it does not allow querying resources across subscriptions with a powerful query language to filter and join data.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company wants to get recommendations on how to improve security, performance, and cost for their Azure resources, such as enabling encryption on storage accounts. Azure Advisor would be the correct tool to provide these best practice recommendations.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think Azure Advisor can be used to query resources because it provides security recommendations, but it lacks the querying and filtering capabilities needed for this specific task.
✗Azure PolicyWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Azure Policy is used to enforce compliance rules and audit resources, but it cannot perform ad-hoc queries across subscriptions to find specific resources like storage accounts without encryption. It evaluates policies, not arbitrary queries.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company needs to ensure that all new storage accounts are automatically denied if encryption is not enabled, and audit existing ones for compliance. Azure Policy would be the correct tool to define and enforce such a rule across subscriptions.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse Azure Policy's compliance evaluation with the ability to query resources, as both involve checking resource configurations. They might think Policy can be used to 'find' resources, but it lacks the query language for flexible filtering and joining.
Analysis generated from the official AZ-900blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Azure Cost Management and Billing
Key term
Azure resource
An Azure resource is a manageable item available through Microsoft Azure, such as a virtual machine, database, or web app.
Key term
Query
A query is a request for information from a database, asking a specific question to retrieve, update, or manipulate data.
About these practice questions
This AZ-900 question is part of Courseiva's 981-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This AZ-900 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-900 exam.