Candidates who are in the early stage of exploring the Microsoft cloud-based solutions and need to build a strong base for this must consider the Microsoft AZ-900 exam. Being associated with highly appreciated and information-focused foundational certification, this exam endows the candidates with everything that is required to have a smooth career transition.

Certification Overview

The path that AZ-900 paves leads to the Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals designation, which is an ideal tool for skill honing, knowing the basics, and an easy career beginning. By giving a simplified yet industry-essential exposure to fundamental networking, storage, and computing of Azure, this certification prepares the candidate for the future. Plus, the foundational learning earned throughout the certification journey, acts as a solvent base for further career enrichment and varied job roles.

Aimed Audience

Anyone, willing to master the Microsoft cloud services but lacking the necessary expertise, can go for the AZ-900 exam and obtain whatever the related industry demands. In particular, industry beginners, fresh graduates, and business users are the ideal audiences for this test. Also, if becoming a Microsoft Azure Data Engineer is a future dream, then this certificate can make the whole journey less strenuous.

Asked Prerequisites

Officially, no prior conjectural expertise is required by the examinee before aiming at the AZ-900 evaluation. However, it is wise to have mild exposure to Microsoft cloud services & solutions as an added advantage.

Exam Traits

In a nutshell, the Microsoft AZ-900 consists of 40-60 questions and lasts for 60 minutes. Scoring anything above 700 points is required to come up with flying colors in such an exam. To add more, the real test is administered by Pearson VUE and Certiport globally and can be taken in multiple languages, some of which are English, French, Spanish, Korean, etc. The acceptable delivery modes for this exam are online and offline. In both cases, AZ-900 is proctored from beginning to end. Finally, for completing the registration and scheduling requirements, paying $99 as an exam fee is essential.

Domain Details

As suggested by many, any professional examinee needs to have a better understanding of exam domains before making any move in the certification process. As far as AZ-900 topics are concerned, they are six in number and feature a wide range of notions & technologies. Thus, here is a quick snapshot of those exam domains.

• Highlight the concepts for the cloud

  This objective begins with explaining the benefits of cloud computing and stating the key terminologies. For instance, a clear explanation of the Capital Expenditure (CapEx) & Operational Expenditure (OpEx) differences has been given at the beginning of the domain. Besides, the comparison and contrast of various cloud services have also been covered within such a section. Thus, Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and also Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) are the points of interest here. Finally, before the topic ends, it explains the real-world scenarios of private, public, and hybrid cloud environments and their discrepancies.

• Define core Azure services

  The undivided attention to the critical Azure services like App Services, Container Instances, and the Kubernetes Service has been given in this exam portion. What is more, Cosmos DB, the SQL Database of Azure, the Database for MySQL of Azure, and the Database for PostgreSQL of Azure are not left behind as well. To add more, the real-life benefits of Resource Groups, Subscriptions, Azure Resource Manager, and Azure Resources are mentioned here too.

• Overview basic solutions and tools for management based on Azure

  There, you need to have a stronghold over key Azure solutions like the Internet of Things (IoT) Hub, IoT Central, Azure Synapse Analytics, HDInsight, Azure Sphere, and many others that pay attention to every bit of the actual evaluation. More so, examinees will have to hold a better understanding of such management tools as Portal of Azure, Azure CLI, PowerShell of Azure, and Cloud Shell and also know the real-time usage and functions of all these instruments.

• Outline common security features including the ones for networks

  Become a skilled Azure data specialist and ensure secure data handling by learning about the basic features of the Security Center of Azure, Key Vault, the usage of Azure Sentinel, the use of Dedicated Hosts, and also learn to describe Azure network security including the notion of defense. To know more, the key use-cases of Network Security Groups (NSG), Azure Firewall, and Azure DDoS protection are also covered extensively in such an exam scope.

• Scrutinize facets for identity, governance, privacy, and compliance

  This part has gone through major changes and is now more concerned with core Azure services for identity by differentiating between authentication & authorization and defining Active Directory. It also explains the skills required to use such tools and features as Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), and Single Sign-On (SSO) in detail. Lastly, Azure Policy, Azure Blueprints, Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure, Microsoft Privacy Statement, Trust Center, and Sovereign Regions of Azure are some other notable learning takeaways of this domain.

• Explain Azure management of costs and Service Level Agreements

  This is the last exam area that has recently witnessed severe changes. As per the recent transformations, this category focuses on the cost planning & managing of the Azure services. Besides, the use cases of the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculator, Azure Cost Management, and the Azure Service Level Agreement (SLA) are covered in it. Also, the examinee will need to spot the factors that might hamper the cost of an SLA.

Earning Potential of AZ-900

After the AZ-900 exam, entry-level jobs will be easily accessible for the candidate. Thus, one can grab job opportunities as an Administrator, Developer, or Technology Manager. As for the salaries, the beginning System Administrator can get an annual income of $45k as rendered by Payscale.com. On the other hand, yearly pay for a Software Developer with Azure skills commences with $56k per annum while an entry-level Technology Manager can ask $57k as a median compensation according to the same salary provider’s info. Anyway, the career path, which is initially paved by AZ-900, may further become highly lucrative and keep on offering constant professional growth.

Marching Ahead

To remain industry-relevant and hone the skills, going for higher-level certifications is the wisest move that any IT specialist can ever make. This way, AZ-900 aspirants can aim at the Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate designation afterwards and obtain intermediate skills in the Azure data domain. With this certificate, it will be easier to grow, sustain, and expand the career opportunities as an Azure Data Engineer.