A company uses an on-premises Active Directory (AD) and wants to enable single sign-on (SSO) for users to access Microsoft 365 and a third-party SaaS application. They plan to use an external identity provider (IdP) that supports Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) 2.0. Which identity concept does this implementation primarily rely on?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
Best answer
Federation
Correct. Federation enables organizations to trust identities from another identity provider or on-premises system, allowing SSO across different platforms using standards like SAML.
Distractor review
Provisioning
Provisioning refers to creating, managing, and deactivating user accounts and access rights, not the trust relationship that enables SSO.
Distractor review
Synchronization
Synchronization replicates user objects and attributes between directories (e.g., AD DS to Microsoft Entra ID), but it does not provide the trust for SSO using an external IdP.
Distractor review
Directory extension
Directory extension allows adding custom attributes to directory objects in Microsoft Entra ID, which is unrelated to SSO or federation trust.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- 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.
Related practice questions
Related SC-900 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A company must retain all customer contracts for 10 years to comply with industry regulations. After 10 years, the contracts must be permanently deleted. Which Microsoft Purview solution should be used to automate this process?
Question 2
A company uses a cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) application for customer relationship management. According to the shared responsibility model, which security responsibility is primarily handled by the customer?
Question 3
A company runs a mix of on-premises servers and Azure virtual machines. They deploy Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on all servers. The security team wants to create custom queries to hunt for a specific attack pattern that involves a sequence of events across multiple machines, such as a PowerShell script being downloaded and then executed on several servers. They need to write their own detection rules based on advanced hunting data. Which Microsoft 365 Defender capability should they use?
Question 4
A company runs a consumer-facing e-commerce website and wants to allow customers to sign in using their existing social media accounts such as Google, Facebook, or LinkedIn. Which Microsoft Entra ID solution should they implement?
Question 5
A company has a hybrid identity environment with Active Directory synchronizing to Microsoft Entra ID. They want users to be able to reset their own on-premises passwords via the cloud SSPR portal. What is the minimum license required for this capability?
Question 6
A company uses a cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that is delivered as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). According to the shared responsibility model, which security responsibility is primarily handled by the customer?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SC-900 question test?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Federation — Federation establishes trust between an organization's identity provider (on-premises AD or external IdP) and a relying party (e.g., Microsoft 365). It allows users to authenticate to the IdP and access resources in other organizations without separate credentials. Provisioning is about creating/deleting accounts. Synchronization copies identities. Directory extension adds attributes.
What should I do if I get this SC-900 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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