- A
Owner
Why wrong: The Owner role grants full access to all resources in the subscription, including the ability to manage and delete virtual machines. This provides more permissions than necessary for the network team and violates the principle of least privilege.
- B
Contributor
Why wrong: The Contributor role grants full access to manage all resources in the subscription, including virtual machines. It does not restrict the network team to only network resources, so it is overly permissive.
- C
Virtual Machine Contributor
Why wrong: The Virtual Machine Contributor role allows managing virtual machines, including starting, stopping, and modifying them. It does not grant permissions to manage virtual networks, subnets, or network security groups, so it would not allow the network team to perform their required duties.
- D
Network Contributor
The Network Contributor role provides full management of network resources such as virtual networks, subnets, network security groups, and load balancers. It does not grant permissions to manage virtual machines or other compute resources, which matches the requirement to restrict the network team's scope.
Quick Answer
The answer is the Network Contributor role. This Azure built-in role is the correct choice because it grants full management permissions for network resources such as virtual networks, subnets, and network security groups, while explicitly denying the ability to modify or delete virtual machines. This separation of duties aligns perfectly with the requirement to restrict the network team to network management only, without VM access. On the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 exam, this question tests your understanding of Azure’s role-based access control (RBAC) and how built-in roles enforce least privilege. A common trap is confusing Network Contributor with Contributor, which would also allow VM changes. Remember the memory tip: “Network Contributor keeps you on the wire, not the compute”—if the task involves only networking, pick the role with “Network” in its name.
AZ-900 Describe Azure management and governance Practice Question
This AZ-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe azure management and governance. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 uses Azure to host multiple virtual machines and virtual networks. The network team is responsible for configuring and maintaining virtual networks, subnets, and network security groups. The company wants to ensure that the network team can manage these network resources but cannot modify or delete virtual machines. Which Azure built-in role should the company assign to the network team?
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
Network Contributor
The Network Contributor role grants full management permissions for network resources, including virtual networks, subnets, and network security groups, but does not allow modification or deletion of virtual machines. This aligns exactly with the requirement to restrict the network team to network resources only.
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.
- ✗
Owner
Why it's wrong here
The Owner role grants full access to all resources in the subscription, including the ability to manage and delete virtual machines. This provides more permissions than necessary for the network team and violates the principle of least privilege.
- ✗
Contributor
Why it's wrong here
The Contributor role grants full access to manage all resources in the subscription, including virtual machines. It does not restrict the network team to only network resources, so it is overly permissive.
- ✗
Virtual Machine Contributor
Why it's wrong here
The Virtual Machine Contributor role allows managing virtual machines, including starting, stopping, and modifying them. It does not grant permissions to manage virtual networks, subnets, or network security groups, so it would not allow the network team to perform their required duties.
- ✓
Network Contributor
Why this is correct
The Network Contributor role provides full management of network resources such as virtual networks, subnets, network security groups, and load balancers. It does not grant permissions to manage virtual machines or other compute resources, which matches the requirement to restrict the network team's scope.
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 confuse the Contributor role (which grants broad resource management) with the more specific Network Contributor role, or mistakenly think Virtual Machine Contributor includes network management, when in fact it only covers compute resources.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Azure RBAC roles are collections of actions defined in JSON, and the Network Contributor role includes actions such as Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/*, Microsoft.Network/networkSecurityGroups/*, and Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses/*, but explicitly excludes Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/*. This granularity allows precise delegation without granting unnecessary permissions, which is critical for the principle of least privilege in enterprise environments.
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.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-900 question test?
Describe Azure management and governance — This question tests Describe Azure management and governance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Network Contributor — The Network Contributor role grants full management permissions for network resources, including virtual networks, subnets, and network security groups, but does not allow modification or deletion of virtual machines. This aligns exactly with the requirement to restrict the network team to network resources only.
What should I do if I get this AZ-900 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 11, 2026
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.
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