The Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification will equip you with the necessary skills to execute as well as design diversified solutions that will run with the help of Microsoft Azure. In particular, among those solutions, you’ll encounter compute, security, storage, and network.

What Is Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert in Detail?

In a nutshell, the renowned Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert designation is the mark of excellence within the Azure scope that will allow you to advise various stakeholders and transform the requirements for a business into some dependable, secure, and scalable solutions for the cloud. However, as a certified Azure Solutions Architect Expert, you will need to cooperate with clients, cloud admins, and DBAs to fully put these solutions into practice. In addition, such a certificate will impart to the aspiring candidates the acumen related to the Azure infrastructure & the management of the solutions for security, apps, and data platforms. Finally, by adding this certificate under your belt, you’ll showcase your capacity of dealing with several types of design for control, security & identity, data storage, business continuity, and architecture.

Ideal Audience

Well, if you possess some mid-tier finesse related to Azure administration & development as well as DevOps processes, you’re good to go along this path. Besides, having some experience working with varied IT operations, virtualization, networking, disaster recovery, budgeting, data platforms, and governance will also be a plus during the whole certification procedure.

Prerequisites

In brief, the vendor does not impose any stringent requirements for the candidates to pursue the designation in question. However, scrutinizing several pertinent domains and passing two exams, which will be looked at below, are two essential steps for getting certified.

Certification Path Overview

In order to obtain the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification you need to pass two exams: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies and Microsoft Azure Architect Design. To ace them, you will need to obtain a score of at least 700 for both tests.

The Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies exam (AZ-303) will assess your capacity to undertake any technical tasks. These are the main domains you will be expected to learn when preparing for it: the implementation and monitoring of the Azure infrastructure, an understanding of how to implement solutions for apps, the application of data platforms and how to manage them, as well as the implementation of management and security solutions. This test is available in the following languages: English, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.

The Microsoft Azure Architect Design (AZ-304), on the other hand, will measure your ability to accomplish tasks related to designing solutions with the Azure platform. The domains you will be questioned on focus on designing monitoring, data storage, business continuity, identity, security, and infrastructure.

Preparing for the Tests

Microsoft provides plenty of learning paths to gain the necessary skills to achieve this certification. You can prepare for the required exams online or through instructor-led courses. Some study resources are available for free, and students are given several lessons to choose from. Each of them will aid you in comprehending the Azure Infrastructure by teaching you how to architect network infrastructure in Azure that is secure and flexible.

If you would like to garner more information about this platform there are a couple of more highly recommended courses to complete as well, such as Architect a data platform in Azure, Architect message brokering and serverless applications in Azure, Architect modern applications in Azure, and Architect API integration in Azure, Architect migration, business continuity, and disaster recovery in Azure.

The instructor-led training options for AZ-303 and AZ-304 are comprehensive too. There are three courses available for candidates, such as AZ-303T00-A: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies, AZ-030T00: Microsoft Azure Technologies for AWS Architects, along with AZ-304T00-A: Microsoft Azure Architect Design. These training sessions will help you understand the importance of each decision and how it can impact the outcome of your overall solution. These programs have different duration, from 4 to 5 days and require one to have prior knowledge in working with Azure solutions.

Certification Validity Period

The Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification is valid for two years. To maintain your certification status, you will need to renew it six months before the expiration date by passing an online assessment. The Microsoft certification dashboard will guide you through the process.

Career Pathway

Earning the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification is not an easy feat if you lack skills in areas of administration or development. Therefore, it is advisable to complete other certificates with the purpose of springboarding yourself to obtain this one. You can either update your skills by completing training courses such as Azure administrator or Security engineer depending on the skills that need improvement. If you are new to the field and prefer to work your way up, you can start with the Azure Fundamentals certification to understand the basics.

Although this is an expert-level accreditation, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room to grow. After you have gained this certification for Azure Solutions Architect, you can develop your abilities further with Microsoft Azure Well-Architected Framework and Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure. These courses are guiding tenets that can be utilized to improve the quality of your workload. If you are interested in getting familiar with new platforms why not challenge yourself by learning Microsoft Power Platform or Dynamics 365. All these pathways will be beneficial especially if you have ambitions to work for them as a Solutions Architect.

Job Opportunities

An Azure Solution Architect works with cloud administrators, DBAs, and clients to put forth solutions. Some of their duties include advising stakeholders on the design and implementation of reliable cloud solutions as well as communicating the right business requirements in order to produce secure and scalable solutions. According to Pearson VUE, the company that administers the exams, candidates who managed to certify reported at least a 35% increase in their wage in comparison to their counterparts. In addition, the average pay for an Azure Solutions Architect is around $119k per annum, according to PayScale, which can be raised depending on your certification and experience. So, obtain your Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification today and enjoy the perks soon!