Choosing the Right Microsoft Azure Certification
Microsoft Azure is a flexible cloud computing platform that lets you build, deploy and manage applications across a global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters. It offers many features to help make developers’ lives easier with robust tools, scalable infrastructure and intelligent services.
Cloud computing being one of the leading career paths in today's fast-growing era, provides space for unique experiences from various services. Microsoft Azure is the most demanding certification of the overall cloud market. It supports building, testing, deploying, and managing applications and benefits of various kinds.
Azure provides many different certifications for individuals looking to start their career in the field and experienced professionals looking to expand their skill set. This blog will look at some of the most popular Microsoft Azure Certifications currently available and what they offer for those who pursue them.
What is the Microsoft Azure Certification?
Microsoft Azure is a public cloud computing platform. Microsoft is most well known for its Windows operating system, but it also offers information technology and services such as servers, databases, analytics tools etc. Alongside AWS (Amazon Web Service), GCP (Google Cloud Platform), and IBM Cloud are the new age cloud computing technology in high demand. It is very important to understand the features of these platforms before you choose a cloud platform for 2023.
Microsoft Azure certification is an exam that ensures candidates are knowledgeable and competent in administering a Microsoft Azure solution. Through Azure certification, you can learn and get certified for various cloud-based services and manage to secure a well-paid job in a reputed firm.
Microsoft has 12 Azure certifications that are classified into three levels. They focus on building knowledge, skills, and abilities to function in the job market. The role-based certification levels and their exams are mentioned below:
Fundamental Level Certifications
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals
- Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals
Associate Level Certifications
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Scientist Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Stack Hub Operator Associate
Expert Level Certification
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
- Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert
With Microsoft Azure Training, you can get started with your certification path and move on to a high-paying cloud career with certified cloud skills. The growing demand and job prospects in Cloud Computing has been developing over years. You can figure out which cloud career path is right for you and take up its certification exam.
What are the best Microsoft Azure Certifications for 2023?
For an aspiring student to obtain a formidable career path, you must be well aware of your options. Here is a list of the top 6 Microsoft Azure Certifications for better career prospects.
- AZ-104 Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate Exam
- AZ-900 Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamental Exam
- AZ-303 Microsoft Certified Solutions Architect Expert Exams
- AZ-500 Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate Exam
- AZ-400 Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert Exam
- AZ-204 Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate Exam
1.AZ-104 Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate Exam
It is the most popular Microsoft Azure certification for a beginner who wishes to be a Microsoft Azure Administrator. It tests your knowledge and capabilities in the configuration and management of computer, storage, virtual networking, and monitoring in the Azure environment.
The candidates should have a minimum of 6 months worth of Azure hands-on experience to attempt the examination. The exam course covers skills related to configuring Azure backups, managing Microsoft Azure resource groups, deploying Azure virtual machines, and implementing Azure load balancer.
The examination is suitable for IT professionals and administrators who keep tabs on cloud assets and resources. It is regarded as an entry-level exam that builds on a basic cloud knowledge foundation.
2.AZ-900 Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamental Exam
The most popular Azure certification is the Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamental Exam (AZ-900). It covers basic skills for system administrators and developers to understand how to use Windows Azure. In addition, you can learn all aspects of cloud computing, networking, storage, privacy, security, compliance, etc.
AZ-900 covers skills like foundational cloud concepts, cloud scalability, fault tolerance in cloud computing, Capex vs Opex cloud computing, and high availability in cloud computing.
As one of the top-paying cloud certifications, it plays a significant role in upgrading your career prospectus. Even non-technical users like managers, marketers and salespeople can benefit from learning the fundamentals.
3.AZ-303 Microsoft Certified Solutions Architect Expert Exams
The AZ-303 Microsoft Certified Solutions Architect Expert Exams is widely acknowledged for professionals in the IT domain. It tests the candidate's capabilities of managing Azure cloud resources. Solutions Architect is ideal for translating business requirements into more scalable, flexible, reliable, and secure solutions.
AZ-303 requires a Microsoft Azure Administrator, but it is not mandatory. You will avail skills like cloud migration, managing Azure active directory, configuring Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), and integrating on-prem infrastructure. The certification is applicable for IT and DevOps professionals with existing Azure administration and developmental skills.
4.AZ-500 Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate Exam
A Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate exam (AZ-500) is one of the most demanded and popular azure certifications. The Certification will help you develop skills related to designing and implementing cloud security solutions with capabilities like identity management, device protection, threat detection, encryption etc.
The areas covered in AZ-500 are configuring Azure log analytics, managing Azure security alerts, Securing cloud-based infrastructure and Azure privileged identity management. It is applicable for security engineers who design, configure, and implement security tools and controls in Azure.
Irrespective of the organisation, AZ-500 Microsoft Azure Security Engineer certification equals job security. So you can avail yourself of high-end jobs with your best security practices and cloud security.
5.AZ-400 Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert Exam
DevOps professionals have the challenging responsibility of delivering cloud services while improving collaboration and communications, designing and implementing strategies for app coding, creating automation, and continuous delivery. In addition, DevOps practitioners are responsible for ensuring that their work is secure using Agile practices with Azure development processes in mind.
You would require Azure Administration Associate or Azure Developer Associate certification prerequisites to pursue the AZ-400 exam. In addition, you will avail the skills of forming instrumentation and SRE strategies, creating security and compliance plans, managing source control, Mobile DevOps strategy with Azure, managing cloud hosting infrastructure, and capturing Azure cloud feedback.
The examination is applicable for those engineers who are coders and familiar with Azure administration and development, and well versed in Agile development practices. You will combine complex technical and soft skills to create automation and scalability while optimising the communication process.
6.AZ-204 Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate Exam
The AZ-204 Microsoft Azure Develop Associate exam designed for individuals who want to develop solutions on the Microsoft Azure platform. It is widely recognised in this technologically evolving business landscape. It is ideal for professionals who design, test, build, and manage cloud applications on Microsoft Azure.
The AZ-204 certifies that you are knowledgeable in the basics of developing apps and services for Azure. The candidates should also have at least 1-2 years of experience with proficiency in data storage and connections, Azure SDKs, debugging, monitoring, and performance tuning.
With proper training, you can avail yourself of the skills related to creating Azure app services, deploying Azure Resource Manager (ARM), building Azure managed Kubernetes Service clusters, implementing Azure RBAC, and developing Azure Cosmos DB solutions.
To Sum Up
Microsoft Azure Certifications are a way to showcase your expertise in the field of cloud computing and can be important for professionals looking to advance their careers. It provides computing power for business applications, storage space to store data, and software development tools. Several different certifications are available in the
Azure Certification Program will help you advance your career as an IT professional or prepare you to take on new responsibilities within your organisation. No single certification stands out as being best or most popular; instead, you should choose what interests you based on your current skill set and future career goals.
- This blog post was originally published at: Cource
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