What feature can help ensure a VM remains compliant with company policy after temporary changes?

Desired State Configuration (DSC) is a management platform in PowerShell that enables the deployment and management of configuration data for software services and the environment in which these services run. One of its key features is to maintain the desired state of a virtual machine (VM) even after temporary changes have been made.

When using DSC, you define the configuration of your systems in a declarative manner, specifying the desired end state. DSC automatically checks the system's state against this specified configuration and makes adjustments as needed to ensure compliance. This means if a temporary change is applied—like software updates or configuration tweaks—DSC can revert those changes back to the defined compliant state.

This capability is crucial for maintaining company policy compliance, as it ensures that any deviations that may occur, whether intentional or accidental, do not persist in the environment. By routinely enforcing the desired configurations, DSC prevents unauthorized changes from becoming permanent, thereby enhancing the security and consistency of the deployment.

Other options serve different purposes: Azure Backup focuses on data recovery, Azure Monitor is optimal for tracking performance and health metrics, while Virtual Network Gateway is primarily for establishing secure connections in networking. Thus, they do not provide the same level of compliance assurance as DSC does.