Getting started with Microsoft Azure certifications
Author: dchenz
This guide introduces Microsoft Azure certifications and is aimed at university students and early professionals. It’s based on my personal experiences and isn’t endorsed by Microsoft. I’ll share official links where possible, but I encourage you to conduct your own research as well.
What are certifications?
Certifications are a type of credential often displayed on LinkedIn profiles under the ‘Licences and certifications’ section. Acquired through sitting proctored exams, they’re a great way to explore cloud technologies and demonstrate a fundamental understanding of technical concepts.
The ‘Big 3’ cloud providers (AWS/Azure/GCP) and numerous software vendors each offer their own certification and training programs, aimed at equipping professionals with the necessary skills for their respective platforms and tools.
Types of Microsoft certifications
Check out Microsoft’s certification poster. Their certifications span various domains beyond Azure, including Office 365, Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform.
These certifications are grouped based on job roles, like Azure Security Engineer Associate or Azure Data Engineer Associate. When choosing which certification to pursue, think about your career goals and how it can enhance your skills. Take time to review the exam outline for each certification as it covers the concepts and tools being evaluated and taught.
Where should I start as a beginner?
Most people start with AZ-900 (Azure Fundamentals) when getting certified. It covers the basics of cloud computing, introduces Azure, and its main features. There are also beginner certifications like DP-900 (Data Fundamentals) and AI-900 (AI Fundamentals) for those interested in data or artificial intelligence.
AZ-104 (Azure Administrator Associate) comes after AZ-900 and digs deeper into technical details, from setting up firewalls to planning system architecture. It’s good to have about a year of Azure practice before taking this exam.
For AWS, there’s the Certified Cloud Practitioner, which is similar difficulty to AZ-900.
Resources
Microsoft Virtual Training Days
Browse upcoming training days here
Note: As of April 2023, Microsoft is no longer giving out free exam vouchers to virtual training day attendees.
Microsoft offers free online sessions called Virtual Training Days covering different technical topics in two sessions held on separate days. When signing up, make sure the event start time is within your timezone.
For example, the following table is the agenda from one of the “Microsoft Azure Virtual Training Day: Fundamentals” events:
| Part 1 | Part 2 |
|---|---|
| Introduction | Introduction |
| Cloud fundamentals | Azure storage |
| Break: 10 minutes | Break: 10 minutes |
| Azure architecture and Azure compute services | Azure identity, access, and security and Azure cost management |
| Break: 10 minutes | Break: 10 minutes |
| Azure networking | Azure governance and compliance, Azure resource management, and Azure monitoring services |
| Closing question and answer | Closing question and answer |
Microsoft Learn
Microsoft Learn contains Microsoft’s training modules and product documentation.
The tutorials are concise articles for easy browsing and track your progress when you’re logged in. Some modules offer free Azure sandbox environments, allowing hands-on practice. For instance, one exercise lets you set up network access for an Azure virtual machine within a sandbox environment.
The certification pages on Microsoft Learn provide links to suggested learning paths designed to help you get ready for the exam content. Each learning path comprises multiple modules that guide you through the relevant topics.
E.g. Azure Fundamentals (scroll down to “Items in this collection”):
- Learning Path: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals: Describe cloud concepts
- Describe cloud computing
- Describe the benefits of using cloud services
- Describe cloud service types
- Learning Path: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals: Describe Azure architecture and services
- Describe the core architectural components of Azure
- Describe Azure compute and networking services
- Describe Azure storage services
- Describe Azure identity, access, and security
- Learning Path: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals: Describe Azure management and governance
- Describe cost management in Azure
- Describe features and tools in Azure for governance and compliance
- Describe features and tools for managing and deploying Azure resources
- Describe monitoring tools in Azure
Azure Free Credits
New Azure users can receive $100 in free credits, valid for 30 days upon creating an account. This enables you to experiment with provisioning and handling resources, providing valuable hands-on experience with the Azure platform.
Azure for Students offers students $100 in free credits that last for one year if they use their school or university email to sign up. This approach doesn’t ask for a credit card, making it an great way to begin using Azure services. The last time I checked, this method works for student emails from the University of New South Wales.
Youtube
I prefer learning on YouTube as it offers many high-quality technical videos. Here are a few favorite channels that I heavily relied on for my Azure certifications.
- John Savill’s Technical Training
- The Azure Master Class series explore Azure products in great depth, which I highly recommend.
- Adam Marczak - Azure for Everyone