Why is centralized configuration management important in a multi-cluster GitOps setup?

In a GitOps-driven multi-cluster environment, centralized configuration management ensures that platform teams can maintain consistency, governance, and security across multiple clusters, all while leveraging Git as the single source of truth. Option B is correct because centralization allows teams to enforce policies, apply configurations, and audit changes across environments in a traceable and reproducible way. This supports compliance, as every change is version-controlled, peer-reviewed, and automatically reconciled by tools like Argo CD or Flux.

Option A is misleading—centralized management does not mean clusters must have identical configurations; it enables consistent patterns while still allowing environment-specific overlays or customizations (e.g., dev vs. prod). Option C is incorrect because GitOps tools remain essential for continuous reconciliation between desired and actual state. Option D is also incorrect because centralized management does not remove flexibility—it supports parameterization and customization per cluster.

By combining centralization with declarative configuration and GitOps automation, organizations gain operational efficiency, faster recovery from drift, and improved auditability in multi-cluster scenarios.