The new Azure certification paths from Microsoft
Recently, Microsoft released new certifications and the corresponding learning paths. These certifications are more focused on job profiles. Microsoft also calls this "rolebased learning".
This is the biggest reason why Microsoft has created these paths. The old existing certifications for Microsoft Azure (70-532, 70-533, 70-535) are very broad in scope and cover a wide range of skills that most professionals can not master.
What do these new certification paths mean? In this article I will try to make this clear to you.
New certification paths
As described above, the new certification paths better reflect the day-to-day activities of professionals. This can also be seen in the names of the certifications:
- Microsoft Certified Azure Fundamentals
- Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator
- Microsoft Certified Azure Developer
- Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect
- Microsoft Certified Azure DevOps Engineer
Microsoft Certified Azure Fundamentals
You will become a Microsoft Certified Azure Fundamentals the moment you pass the exam:
For who is it?
This certification is intended for candidates who want to demonstrate basic knowledge of cloud services and how these services work in Azure. This exam is therefore intended for people with non-technical backgrounds such as those involved in the sales or purchase of cloud-based solutions. By obtaining this certification, they demonstrate that they have basic knowledge of Azure and that they master the following concepts within the Azure cloud:
- Understand cloud concepts
- Knowledge of Azure core services
- Understanding Security, Privacy, Compliance and Trust
- Azure costs and support
Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator
The following exams are required to obtain the Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator predicate:
- AZ-100 Microsoft Azure Infrastructure and Deployment
- AZ-101 Microsoft Azure Integration and Security
If you have already passed the 70-533 exam you will be able to pass the following exam (until June 30):
For who is it?
These exams are intended for system administrators and consultants who manage and maintain (Azure) cloud environments. By obtaining this certification, they demonstrate that they have the following knowledge.
- Manage Azure subscriptions and resources
- Implement and manage storage
- Implement and manage virtual machines (VMs)
- Configure and manage virtual networks
- Manage identities
- Evaluate and perform server migration to Azure
- Implement and manage application services
- Implement advanced virtual networks
- Securing identities
Microsoft Certified Azure Developer
You will become Microsoft Certified Azure Developer at the moment you successfully pass the exam below:
This certification path does not have a transition exam like the "Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator" path for the simple reason that only one exam is needed. During the development of this path, there were two exams for a long time (AZ-200 and AZ-201), but feedback from the people who took the exams led to the merging of the certifications into one overarching certificate.
For who is it?
his certification path is intended for developers who develop cloud solutions such as applications and services. With this certification they show that they have the following knowledge.
- Development of Azure Infrastructure as a Service solutions
- Development of Azure Platform as a Service solutions
- Develop Azure storage solutions
- Implement Azure security
- Monitor, troubleshoot and optimize solutions
- Connect and use Azure services and third-party services
Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect
Architects can obtain the Microsoft Certified Azure Solution Architect certification by taking the following exams:
As with the Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator certification, both exams must be passed for the Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect predicate.
If you have already passed the 'old' 70-535 exam, an upgrade path is available:
For who is it?
The certification path "Azure Solutions Architect" is for architects who advise stakeholders and translate business requirements into safe, scalable and reliable solutions.
By getting this certification they show that they have the following knowledge.
- Implement and configure infrastructure
- Implement workloads and security
- Develop and implement applications
- Securing data
- Implementations for the cloud
- Determine workload requirements
- Designing identities and security
- Design data platform solutions
- Design Business Continuity strategy
- Design for implementation, migration and integration
Microsoft Certified Azure DevOps Engineer
A completely new path is that of "Microsoft Certified Azure DevOps Engineer". You obtain this certification when you have passed the following exam:
When you want to obtain this certification, you are obliged to successfully complete the certification "Azure Developer Associate" or "Azure Administrator Associate".
For who is it?
The Microsoft Azure DevOps Engineer certificate is aimed at DevOps Professionals who combine people, processes and tools to continually deliver value to meet the needs of users and business objectives. By passing this exam they demonstrate that they have the following knowledge.
- Designing a DevOps strategy
- Implement DevOps development processes
- Implementing Continuous Integration (CI)
- Implementing Continuous Delivery (CD)
- Implement dependence management
- Implement application infrastructure
- Implement continuous feedback
Blog originally published in dutch on the website of Microsoft Gold Learning Partner 3fifty. If your are based in the Netherlands take a look at the website.