Have you begun to develop your technical understanding of Microsoft Azure and are unsure where to go next?
Obtaining a Microsoft Azure certification is an excellent method to enhance your current abilities and advance your career. This article contains up-to-date and helpful information about Microsoft Azure certification pathways. First, I'll go over Microsoft's role-based certifications and the Azure certifications that are currently available.
Depending on your current employment role and career goals, you can choose from various learning pathways, including Azure Data Engineer, Azure DevOps Engineer, Azure Solutions Architect, and more. You can find an upcoming Microsoft exam to take once you've decided on the certification you wish to pursue.
Microsoft role-based certifications
Microsoft introduced role-based certifications in 2018 to connect Azure knowledge and abilities with relevant career and business needs.
There are nine Azure certifications available depending on roles. As technology and job routes advance, Microsoft updates the list regularly. The following Azure role-based certifications are available as of mid-2020, in order of difficulty:
Azure Administrator
Azure AI Engineer
Azure Data Engineer
Azure Data Scientist
Azure Database Administrator
Azure Developer
Azure DevOps Engineer
Azure Security Engineer
Azure Solutions Architect
These Azure role certifications begin at a beginner level and progress to intermediate and expert levels of experience.
Learning the foundations of Azure
Start with the basics if you're new to cloud computing or working with the Azure platform for the first time—alternatively, the basics in the case of Azure certifications. The AZ-900 Fundamentals certification is Microsoft's entry-level Azure certification. This certification isn't required for any other Azure certifications, but it's the perfect place to begin your Azure journey.
The Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 exam covers the following topics:
Azure cost management and service level agreements (10-15%)
General security and network security features (10-15%)
Core solutions and management tools on Azure (10-15%)
Core Azure services (15-20%)
Cloud concepts (20-25%)
Identity, governance, privacy, and compliance features (20-25%)
After finishing this track, you will obtain a solid understanding of Azure cloud services.
Azure certifications based on roles
Many cloud computing professionals will choose a study route based on their role in an IT team or how they want to advance in their careers once they have their foundation in place and have completed the Azure Fundamentals certification test.
There are a variety of role-based certifications and learning programs available. I'll go over each one one by one, describing the relevant function, qualification, and examinations associated with each one.
Azure Administrator Associate
The most popular Azure credential is the Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification. This could be your next step if this corresponds with your present and/or future career aspirations. You must prepare for and pass the AZ-104 exam to obtain this certification. You'll get your following outstanding Microsoft badge after finishing this study path.
The Azure Administrator Associate AZ-104 exam assesses your knowledge and skills in the following areas:
Implement and manage storage (10-15%)
Monitor and backup Azure resources (10-15%)
Manage Azure identities and governance (15-20%)
Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (25-30%)
Configure and manage virtual networking (30-35%)
You will be able to implement, maintain, and monitor a Microsoft Azure infrastructure for an organization after finishing this route.
Azure AI Engineer
There are two available credentials offered by Microsoft if you want to work as an artificial intelligence (AI) engineer: foundation and associate. To understand the subject, you might start with the AI-900 exam at the primary level. Nonetheless, this is not a requirement for the AI-102 exam at the associate level.
The Azure AI Fundamentals AI-900 test assesses your knowledge and skills in the following areas:
Natural Language Processing (NLP) workloads on Azure (15-20%)
AI workloads and considerations (15-20%)
Computer vision workloads on Azure (15-20%)
Conversational AI workloads on Azure (15-20%)
Fundamental principles of machine learning on Azure (30-35%)
You will receive the Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals certification if you pass this test. After completing this route, you will receive foundational knowledge of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) principles and related Microsoft Azure services.
The Azure AI Associate AI-102 exam will assess your knowledge and skills in the following areas:
Plan and manage an Azure Cognitive Services solution (15-20%)
Implement Computer Vision solutions (20-25%)
Implement natural language processing solutions (20-25%)
Implement knowledge mining solutions (15-20%)
Implement conversational AI solutions (15-20%)
After finishing this route, you will attain the Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate certification in addition to gaining the knowledge and expertise in creating and implementing AI apps and agents using Microsoft Azure tools.
Azure Data Engineer
Data engineer and data scientist role-based certifications are offered for data-related study courses and certifications.
Multiple tests are available to help you become a certified Azure data engineer. Start with the DP-900 exam to obtain Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals certification if you're a newbie.
The Azure Data Fundamentals DP-900 exam assesses your knowledge and skills in the following areas:
Describe core data concepts (15-20%)
Describe how to work with non-relational data on Azure (25-30%)
Describe an analytics workload on Azure (25-30%)
Describe how to work with relational data on Azure (25-30%)
You will be conversant with relational and non-relational data and other data workloads, such as transactional and analytical, after finishing this route.
Candidates for the Azure Data Engineer Associate certification should have subject matter expertise integrating, transforming, and consolidating data from various structured and unstructured data systems into structures that are suitable for building analytics solutions.
Responsibilities for this role include helping stakeholders understand the data through exploration, building and maintaining secure and compliant data processing pipelines by using different tools and techniques. This professional uses various Azure data services and languages to store and produce cleansed and enhanced datasets for analysis.
The DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure exam measures your ability to accomplish the following technical tasks:
Design and implement data storage (40-45%)
Design and develop data processing (25-30%)
Design and implement data security (10-15%)
Monitor and optimize data storage and data processing (10-15%)
You'll be able to use Azure services, including Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Data Factory, Azure Stream Analytics, Azure Databricks, and Azure Blob storage, to implement data solutions after finishing this track.
Azure Data Scientist
If you're interested in the Azure Data Scientist role, the DP-100 test might be proper for you. Although the DP-900 is not required for this certification, it is an excellent place to start. The Azure Data Scientist Associate certification is earned by passing this intermediate-level exam.
The DP-100 exam will assess your abilities to design and implement a data science solution on Azure:
Optimize and manage models (20-25%)
Run experiments and train models (25-30%)
Deploy and consume models (20-25%)
Set up an Azure machine learning workspace (30-35%)
You will be certified in data science and machine learning after finishing this track, and you will have demonstrated your ability to implement and run machine learning workloads on Azure.
Azure Database Administrator
Is there a database certification exam that I can take? Yes, absolutely. It would help if you began with the DP-900, a beginner-level exam I already discussed. You'll earn the Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals badge once more.
After completing your foundation's certification, you can take the DP-300 associate (intermediate) level exam as part of the Azure Database Administrator requirement. The exam includes both database management and implementation.
The DP-300 test assesses your competence in administering relational databases on Microsoft Azure:
Optimize query performance (5-10%)
Perform automation of tasks (10-15%)
Perform administration by using T-SQL (10-15%)
Monitor and optimize operational resources (15-20%)
Plan and implement data platform resources (15-20%)
Plan and implement high availability and disaster recovery environment (15-20%)
Implement a secure environment (15-20%)
This course will demonstrate your ability to implement and manage the operational parts of cloud-native and hybrid data platform solutions built on Azure Data Services and SQL Server by completing it.
Azure Developer and DevOps Engineer
Do you aspire to work as an Azure DevOps engineer? A two-step certification process is required. First, study for the AZ-204 Azure Developer Associate test and pass it. The Azure Developer role takes care of this. It validates your ability to design, develop, test, and maintain Microsoft Azure cloud apps and services.
The Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure AZ-204 exam assesses your knowledge and skills in the following areas:
Monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimizing Azure solutions (10-15%)
Developing for Azure storage (10-15%)
Implementing Azure security (15-20%)
Developing Azure compute solutions (25-30%)
Connecting to and consuming Azure services and third-party services (25-30%)
After passing this exam, you will be awarded the title of Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate.
After finishing this track, you will be able to certify your knowledge and skills in designing, building, testing, and maintaining cloud applications and services on Microsoft Azure.
Continuing, you will be able to pursue the advanced level DevOps Engineer Expert certification. This is part of the Azure DevOps Engineer position and requires completing the AZ-400 Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions certification. Please keep in mind that there are some prerequisites for this expert-level certification. Before taking this test, you must have passed the AZ-104 (administration) or AZ-204 (developer) associate level exams.
The Developing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions (AZ-400) exam assesses your knowledge and skills in the following areas:
Developing a site reliability engineering strategy (5-10%)
Developing an instrumentation strategy (5-10%)
Defining and implementing continuous delivery and release management strategy (10-15%)
Managing source control (10–15%)
Developing a security and compliance plan (10-15%)
Facilitate communication and collaboration (10-15%)
Defining and implementing continuous integration (20-25%)
Although this is not the most straightforward certification, the curriculum is helpful and gratifying. After finishing this track, you will have demonstrated your competence to create a web application implementation strategy and launch web apps with continuous integration.
Azure Security Engineer
In the technology industry, there are never enough skilled security specialists. It's critical to put security measures and threat prevention for your company. The Azure security engineer role-based certification path is a fantastic choice if you're interested in a career in this field. Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate certification correlates to the AZ-500 exam.
The Microsoft Azure Security Technologies (AZ-500) exam assesses your knowledge and skills in the following areas:
Manage security operations (15-20%)
Manage identity and access (20-25%)
Secure data and applications (30-35%)
Implement platform protection (35-40%)
After finishing this track, you will be able to establish security controls and threat prevention in an Azure environment, manage identity and access, and safeguard data and apps.
Azure Network Engineer
Microsoft Azure enables organizations around the world to become more digitally connected, and networking is transforming the way these organizations work. When companies shift to the cloud, networking as a service unlocks new benefits for customers in the areas of scale, speed, elastic resources, and managed oversight.
In the cloud landscape, the critical role of the network engineer continues to evolve as these professionals tackle complex tasks, from migrating workloads to the cloud and managing hybrid connectivity to empowering remote workers and supporting strategic scenarios that enable digital transformation.
Candidates for the Azure Network Engineer Associate certification need to have subject matter expertise in recommending, planning, implementing, and maintaining Azure networking solutions, including hybrid networking, connectivity, routing, security, and private access to Azure services. And they need expert Azure administration skills. Professionals in this role deploy networking solutions by using the Azure portal and other methods, including PowerShell, Azure CLI, and Azure Resource Manager templates (ARM templates).
The AZ-700 exam measures your ability to accomplish the following technical tasks:
Design, implement, and manage hybrid networking (10-15%)
Design and implement core networking infrastructure (20-25%)
Design and implement routing (25-30%)
Secure and monitor networks (15-20%)
Design and implement Private access to Azure Services (10-15%)
Azure Solutions Architect
Last but not least, there's the Azure Solutions Architect role, which requires an expert-level certification. Candidates for this exam should have advanced experience and knowledge of IT operations, including networking, virtualization, identity, security, business continuity, disaster recovery, data platforms, and governance. A professional in this role should manage how decisions in each area affect an overall solution. In addition, they should have experience in Azure administration, Azure development, and DevOps processes.
The AZ-305: Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions exam measures your ability to accomplish the following technical tasks:
Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions (25-30%)
Design data storage solutions (25-30%)
Design business continuity solutions (10-15%)
Design infrastructure solutions (25-30%)
After finishing this track, you will be able to use computation, networking, storage, and security to develop solutions that run on Microsoft Azure.
After finishing this track, you will be able to demonstrate your ability to develop Microsoft Azure-based systems, encompassing factors such as computing, network, storage, and security.
You will obtain the designation of Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert if you pass both examinations.
To get started
Check the GemRain Consulting website for all the Azure courses and contact our account manager for more detail and a deeper understanding. If you are very new to Azure, you should start with the basics AZ-900. Make arrangements with the GemRain account manager for public or private class training. Our trainers in GemRain Consulting are certified professionals and experienced in conducting training for all level types of participants. Our trainer will guide you on learning paths depending on your current job role and career plans.
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