Learn the fundamentals of Azure today, and pass the exam!

Azure turned 10 years just this month, and I’m excited to see so much happening around the platform – both from IT Pros, devs and architects, but also from people aspiring to work with Azure in the future.

While a certification is not – per se – a proof that you are knowledgeable about everything there is to Azure, I like to think of it as the minimum badge for proving your understanding.

When I joined Microsoft in late 2019, one of the things I had to complete was a certification. For me, this was AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals. It’s the most fundamental baseline certification, and while not strictly required for the role-based and specialty exams, it’s still very useful. I had fun doing the exam, even if I’d done most of the more advanced exams before this.

It’s the first ladder to get certified and work with Azure. It touches upon the core concepts such as understanding cloud concepts (PaaS, SaaS, IaaS), the core Azure services and security, privacy and trust. There are also bits on pricing and support options.

To study for the exam, you can follow this free Azure fundamental online training path. It will take you about 10 hours to digest and understand everything. At the end of each module, you’ll have a knowledge check to verify your learnings so far.

You can also attend an instructor-led, 1-day training delivered by Microsoft learning partners. If you prefer, Pluralsight also has on occasion free weekends, and  Azure Fundamentals is available there also.

[Update Feb 7, 2020: I’ve added a link to Vlad Catrinescu’s study guide, that he kindly shared with me:  https://vladtalkstech.com/az-900-study-guide-microsoft-azure-fundamentals]

The exam is available both as an online version and by reserving a seat at an exam center. You can schedule either one here. At the moment the pricing is $99 but this might vary a bit depending on the country.

Once you pass the exam, you’ll also receive access to the Microsoft Certified Professional portal.

And more importantly, you’ll receive the official certification!