AZ-900 Describe Azure management and governance Practice Question
This AZ-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe azure management and governance. 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 wants to enforce that all Azure storage accounts must have encryption enabled. If a storage account is created without encryption, the policy should automatically enable encryption without manual intervention. Which Azure Policy effect should they use?
Correct. The Modify effect can change a resource property, such as enabling encryption, to remediate non-compliant resources.
B
Deny
Why wrong: Incorrect. Deny prevents the creation of non-compliant resources but does not automatically fix them.
C
Audit
Why wrong: Incorrect. Audit only logs compliance status without taking any remediation action.
D
DeployIfNotExists
Why wrong: Incorrect. DeployIfNotExists is used to deploy a new resource (like an extension) if it does not exist, not to modify an existing resource's property.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Modify
The Modify effect is correct because it can automatically enable encryption on a storage account that does not have it enabled, without requiring manual intervention. Unlike DeployIfNotExists, which only deploys resources if they don't exist, Modify can alter existing properties (like encryption settings) on the resource itself. This ensures compliance by remediating non-compliant resources in real time or during evaluation cycles.
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.
✓
Modify
Why this is correct
Correct. The Modify effect can change a resource property, such as enabling encryption, to remediate non-compliant resources.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Deny
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Deny prevents the creation of non-compliant resources but does not automatically fix them.
✗
Audit
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Audit only logs compliance status without taking any remediation action.
✗
DeployIfNotExists
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. DeployIfNotExists is used to deploy a new resource (like an extension) if it does not exist, not to modify an existing resource's property.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is confusing DeployIfNotExists with Modify: DeployIfNotExists deploys a new resource (like a diagnostic setting) but cannot change properties of the existing resource itself, whereas Modify directly alters the resource's configuration.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The Modify effect in Azure Policy uses a 'modify' action defined in the policy rule to change tags, SKUs, or encryption settings on existing resources via a 'roleDefinitionIds' that grants the policy engine the necessary permissions (e.g., Contributor). Under the hood, Azure Policy triggers a remediation task that calls the Azure Resource Manager API to update the resource properties, ensuring compliance without manual steps. This is particularly useful for enforcing encryption at rest (Azure Storage Service Encryption) across all storage accounts in a subscription, as it can automatically enable the 'requireInfrastructureEncryption' or 'keySource' properties.
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-900 question in full detail.
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: Modify — The Modify effect is correct because it can automatically enable encryption on a storage account that does not have it enabled, without requiring manual intervention. Unlike DeployIfNotExists, which only deploys resources if they don't exist, Modify can alter existing properties (like encryption settings) on the resource itself. This ensures compliance by remediating non-compliant resources in real time or during evaluation cycles.
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.
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-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.
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.