Changes have always been a part and parcel of human life. Just like that, technology keeps on updating. Likewise, organisations are also updating their certification exams. And, just like that, the Microsoft AZ-900 exam has also been updated. In other words, you may say, that the exam pattern will also change accordingly. However, you don’t need to worry. Because, in this article, we’re going provide all the changes. Therefore, stay with us till the end, and you’ll be updated with all the changes.
Since you are here, it’s pretty sure that you may be either wondering to opt for AZ-900 Exam. Or, you may be preparing for the same. So, we’re also going to provide you with the preparatory guide to qualify. But, first, let’s view some solid reasons to go for the Microsoft AZ-900 Exam.
Why choose the Microsoft Azure AZ-900 Exam?
The recent years have encountered a significant rise in public cloud spending by companies across the globe. This was the moment for Microsoft Azure to get in and raise opportunities for people who yearned to begin in the field of cloud computing but had no technical background. It was then Microsoft launched a role-based Azure Certification path referred to as the ‘Microsoft Certified Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 Exam’.
Most commonly known as Microsoft Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 Exam has been intended for candidates from the non-technical background as well as the technical professionals who aspire to verify their core Azure Cloud services skills.
The certification is fit for the candidates who crave to gain an understanding of Azure fundamentals and explore the field for better opportunities must go for AZ-900 Exam. To pass the Microsoft AZ-900 exam, candidates need to understand essential cloud concepts, Azure Services, security, privacy compliance, trust, and be familiar with Azure Pricing and Support. With that covered, let’s move on to see all the exam information.
All info regarding AZ-900 Exam is here!
If there is something you can not miss, then it’s surely the exam details. In other words, it is always good to have details of the exam beforehand.
You can consider this exam as your initial choice to understand cloud services and how Microsoft Azure demonstrates these concepts. It can serve as a preparation step for Microsoft Azure or Microsoft cloud services exams. It’s a helpful starting point as it confirms your basic knowledge, but it’s not required before pursuing other Azure certifications.
Prerequisites
We recommend going through the prerequisites first thing before you begin the preparation for any certification exam. The target audience for the AZ-900 Exam is the following candidates-
- First of all, candidates with non-technical backgrounds can apply for this exam.
- Secondly, individuals are involved in selling or purchasing cloud-based solutions and services.
- Subsequently, candidates who have some involvement with cloud-based solutions and services.
- Lastly, candidates with a technical background wish to validate their foundational-level knowledge around cloud services.
Apart from this, candidates must pay attention here, that technical IT experience is not required. However, any general IT knowledge or experience would be beneficial.
Basic Details
Similar to other Microsoft exams, AZ-900 has 40-60 questions to answer within 85 minutes. The questions come in various formats like case studies, short answers, multiple-choice, mark review, drag and drop, etc. The exam fee is 99 USD, and you need to score 700 points or higher to pass. It’s available in four languages: English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), and Korean.
Till now, all the information put forth is updated information. There are no such major changes here. Just, some addition in exam languages. However, the major changes lie in the Course Outline. So, let’s begin with it.
Updated Course Outline
In the Microsoft AZ-900 exam, you can expect questions from the following different modules. Therefore, it is crucial to have a fair knowledge of these modules before you begin with the AZ-900 exam preparation. The Course Outline forms the most crucial part of the AZ-900 Exam.
The content includes updates of English version of the exam as of July 31, 2023
Module 1 – Describe cloud concepts (25–30%)
The Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Exam cover the latest and updated exam guide including –
Describe cloud computing
- Define cloud computing (Microsoft Documentation: What is cloud computing? and Types of Cloud Computing)
- Describe the shared responsibility model (Microsoft Documentation: Shared Responsibility Model in Cloud)
- Define cloud models, including public, private, and hybrid (Microsoft Documentation: What is a Public Cloud?, What is a Private Cloud? and What is a Hybrid Cloud?)
- Identify appropriate use cases for each cloud model (Examples of cloud computing)
- Describe the consumption-based model (Microsoft Documentation: Consumption and Fixed Cost Models)
- Compare cloud pricing models (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Product Pricing and Azure Cloud Services pricing)
- Describe serverless
Describe the benefits of using cloud services (Benefits of Cloud Computing Services)
- Describe the benefits of high availability and scalability in the cloud (Microsoft Documentation: Benefits and considerations of using cloud services)
- Describe the benefits of reliability and predictability in the cloud (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Reliability and Overview of the reliability pillar)
- Describe the benefits of security and governance in the cloud (Microsoft Documentation: Security governance and Governance in the Microsoft Cloud and Azure governance documentation)
- Describe the benefits of manageability in the cloud (Microsoft Documentation: Cloud management in the Cloud Adoption Framework, Cloud management gateway overview and Azure Management Guide, Before you start)
Describe cloud service types
- Describe infrastructure as a service (IaaS) (Microsoft Documentation: What is IaaS? and Azure IaaS (infrastructure as a service)
- Describe platform as a service (PaaS) (Microsoft Documentation: What is PaaS? and Use platform as a service (PaaS) options)
- Describe software as a service (SaaS) (Microsoft Documentation: What is SaaS? and About SaaS)
- Identify appropriate use cases for each cloud service (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Cloud Services)
Module 2 – Describe Azure architecture and services (35–40%)
Describe the core architectural components of Azure
- Describe Azure regional, regional pairs, and sovereign regions (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Regions and Avaialbility Zones and Azure Regional Pairs and Azure Sovereign Clouds)
- Describe availability zones (Microsoft Documentation: Azure availability zones)
- Describe Azure datacenters (Microsoft Documentation: Datacenter security overview)
- Describe Azure resources and resource groups (Manage Azure resource groups)
- Describe subscriptions (Microsoft Documentation: Subscription decision guide and Azure subscription)
- Describe management groups (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Management Groups)
- Describe the hierarchy of resource groups, subscriptions, and management groups (Microsoft Documentation: What are Azure management groups? )
Describe Azure compute and networking services
- Compare compute types, including container instances, virtual machines, and functions (Choose an Azure compute service, Azure Container Instances, Introduction to Azure virtual machines, Introduction to Azure Functions)
- Describe Virtual Machine options, including Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets, availability sets, and Azure Virtual Desktop (Virtual machines in Azure, What are virtual machine scale sets? and What is Azure Virtual Desktop?)
- Describe resources required for virtual machines (Windows virtual machines in Azure)
- Describe application hosting options, including Web Apps, containers, and virtual machines
- Describe virtual networking, including the purpose of Azure Virtual Networks, Azure virtual subnets, peering, Azure DNS, Azure VPN Gateway, and Azure ExpressRoute (What is Azure Virtual Network?, Virtual Network Subnet, Azure Virtual Network Peering, Azure Peering Service Overview, What is Azure DNS?, What is Azure VPN Gateway?, Azure ExpressRoute and Significance of Azure ExpressRoute)
- Define public and private endpoints (What is a private endpoint?)
Describe Azure storage services
- Compare Azure storage services (Introduction to Azure Storage)
- Describe storage tiers (Storage account overview, Hot, Cool, and Archive access tiers)
- Describe redundancy options (Azure Storage redundancy)
- Describe storage account options and storage types (Storage account overview)
- Identify options for moving files, including AzCopy, Azure Storage Explorer, and Azure File Sync (azcopy copy, Get started with AzCopy, Transfer data with AzCopy and file storage, What is Azure File Sync?, Get started with Storage Explorer)
- Describe migration options, including Azure Migrate and Azure Data Box (About Azure Migrate)
Describe Azure identity, access, and security
- Describe directory services in Azure, including Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) and part of Microsoft Entra and Azure Active Directory Domain Services (Azure AD DS)
- Describe authentication methods in Azure, including single sign-on (SSO), multifactor authentication (MFA), and passwordless (Passwordless authentication options for Azure Active Directory, authentication and verification methods are available in Azure Active Directory)
- Describe external identities in Azure, including business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C)
- Describe Conditional Access in Azure AD (What is Conditional Access?)
- Describe Azure role-based access control (RBAC) (What is Azure role-based access control (Azure RBAC)?)
- Describe the concept of Zero Trust (What is Zero Trust?)
- Describe the purpose of the defense in-depth model
- Describe the purpose of Microsoft Defender for Cloud (What is Microsoft Defender for Cloud?)
Module 3 – Describe Azure management and governance (30–35%)
Describe cost management in Azure
- Describe factors that can affect costs in Azure (Plan and manage your Azure costs)
- Compare the Pricing calculator and the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculator (Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Calculator)
- Describe the Cost Management capabilities in Azure
- Describe the purpose of tags (Use tags to organize your Azure resources and management hierarchy)
Describe features and tools in Azure for governance and compliance
- Describe the purpose of Microsoft Purview in Azure
- Describe the purpose of Azure Policy (What is Azure Policy?)
- Describe the purpose of resource locks (Lock resources to prevent unexpected changes)
Describe features and tools for managing and deploying Azure resources
- Describe the Azure portal (Azure portal overview)
- Describe Azure Cloud Shell, including Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI) and Azure PowerShell (Overview of Azure Cloud Shell)
- Describe the purpose of Azure Arc (Azure Arc overview)
- Describe infrastructure as code (IaC) (IaC on Azure)
- Describe Azure Resource Manager (ARM) and ARM templates (What is Azure Resource Manager?, What are ARM templates?)
Describe monitoring tools in Azure
- Describe the purpose of Azure Advisor (Introduction to Azure Advisor)
- Describe Azure Service Health (What is Azure Service Health?)
- Describe Azure Monitor, including Log Analytics, Azure Monitor alerts, and Application Insights (Log Analytics tutorial, Azure Monitor overview, Application Insights overview)
And, now, for all of you, who are preparing for the AZ-900 Exam. Let’s begin with the Preparation Guide. This Preparation Guide will help you qualify for the exam with flying colours.
A step by step Preparatory Guide for AZ-900 Exam
In this preparatory guide, we’re going to take you through a step by step guide. First of all, keep in mind the following list of Dont’s while preparing for the examination.
- Certification exams follow a similar format to the exams you’ve taken in school. So, take them seriously and don’t underestimate them. These exams require consistent study, not last-minute cramming.
- Studying for an exam you haven’t learned about through education or experience is not real studying; it’s just cramming. Cramming is like trying to stuff your brain with facts temporarily just to pass the exam, and you forget them afterward.
- Some people like to quickly review the material right before the exam. However, this should happen after you’ve learned and studied the material, not as a last-minute attempt to memorize everything. If you spend your time in class on your phone and then try to cram all the information the night before the exam, it’s not an effective strategy. Good luck with that approach!
Now, that you are aware of all the DONT, it’s time for you to begin with the first step of the preparation guide.
Download the Exam Objectives
Microsoft wants IT professionals to earn their certifications by passing the exams. Certification is like a cycle; getting certified makes you more valuable, and certified professionals make certifications more valuable.
To assist candidates, most certification providers offer a detailed list of the topics you’ll encounter on the exam. This is the course outline we mentioned earlier. This list shows how much of the exam is about each topic. Always, always, always get the course outline and use it to focus your study. Providers don’t make these lists for fun; they want you to know what’s most important for the exam.
Use Microsoft Preparation Learning Resources for the AZ-900 exam
Since all certification vendors want every candidate to qualify for the exam. Therefore, they provide you with various options as learning resources to choose from. So, in this section, we’re going to various learning resources.
Instructor-led Training: The Gold Standard
When you’re getting ready for the Microsoft Azure certification exam, it’s a good idea to check out the links to instructor-led training on the Microsoft learning portal.
Course AZ-900T01-A: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (1 Day)
After this, the candidate will be able to do the following-
- First of all, you’ll have general cloud computing notions.
- Secondly, candidates will learn the core services accessible with Microsoft Azure.
- Subsequently, mastering security, privacy, compliance, and trust with Microsoft Azure.
- Understanding pricing and support models accessible with Microsoft.
Course AZ-900T00-A: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (2 Day)
This particular is a two-day course will offer foundational level knowledge on the following topics-
- First of all, cloud concepts core
- Secondly, Azure services
- Security, privacy, compliance, and trust; and
- Also, Azure pricing and support.
Study the traditional way with BOOKS
Books are a valuable source of knowledge, and Microsoft has its own book store. So, don’t restrict your learning. Here are some recommended books we suggest you explore:
- Firstly, Microsoft Azure For Beginners by Adney Ainsley
- Secondly, the Microsoft Azure Ultimate Beginners Guide by Kennan Bismar
- Subsequently, Microsoft Azure Tutorial for Beginners by Dennis Hutten
- Beginner’s Guide to Microsoft Azure
Join the Community
Online forums and study groups are excellent for AZ-900 exam preparation. You can connect with fellow candidates in these forums or groups to ask questions about any challenging topics. However, joining them is optional, and it’s a personal choice. These online communities also help you stay updated with others who are on a similar learning journey. Plus, you can seek help with any topics you find challenging.
Always Always Always go for Practice Tests
Practice tests are highly valuable during exam preparation. They provide a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses. Here’s a tip: Use practice tests after you’ve covered the entire syllabus. Be cautious when choosing practice papers, ensure they are from reliable sources. Let’s Start Practicing Now!
Expert’s Corner
In conclusion, achieving Microsoft certification is not an easy feat. That is to say, getting through your certification requires a compendium of hard work, determination, and patience. The Microsoft Azure AZ-900 exam proves your ability to accomplish technical tasks. Moreover, the exam is a great opportunity to indulge in it. Microsoft suggests having practical experience with the product and using the recommended training resources. To assist you, Testprep Training has organized all the necessary information in an organized way.
Get ready to practice and prepare to become a Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals with hundreds of real-time exam questions. Try AZ-900 Free Test Now!
