AZ 900 Certification - Prep Guide

Before you proceed, I am assuming you are AZ 900 Certification aspirants.

 

Most of you know I am in IT and work for Microsoft.  With my previous employer, I was in IT operations, supporting the Artificial Intelligence and Analytics Department although, I was thorough with the skillset names Informatica, MSBI, Azure data bricks, AWS, and GCP…. I was not familiar with the cloud concepts.  Yes worked in standalone, LAN, and WAN. Moved to IT operations, for the past 17 years. Was very eager to know more about the buzzword ‘Cloud’ and its concepts. Was a curious Georgy always… As per Einstein “I have no special talents but I am only passionately curious”

 

During my orientation session at Microsoft in Dec 2021, they mentioned that as a full-time employee, I could take any of the Microsoft Certifications for free. I can take a maximum of 5 attempts in a year for free, per Certification. 

 

Yes, I am not only keen but an ardent learner, put this pointer on my back burner and was focusing on my ramp-up with my new employer…. Although on the back burner, it was always warm… I was thinking - What certifications can I pursue? After a couple of months, spoke to my manager about this… But he said that there is a lot of work coming my way – and certifications may not be needed.    

 

But within 6 months, there was a major reorg, and I also had a change of manager…. With the re-org there was a lot of work, hence could not focus on certification. But remember my 1-year clock for certification is already ticking… Mid of Nov, had my performance appraisal with my new manager. This certification vigor in me was so intense, that in the spur of a moment, I told my manager I would do my AZ 900 certification within EOY 2022.

 

It is a holiday time – all of us know, come Mid-Nov to Jan first week it is always a fun time with Family and Friends. However, my determination to do the certification was strong. I spoke to my friends in my network and heard they had this certification under their belt a long time back. I felt – I was left behind. Got some vague tips here and there from them and started my hard work. There is a saying.

 

If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn no one can stop you. 

 

People who know me or worked with me know that, I am a very committed person - So I did all my research - online, and found the required videos on YouTube, blogs, and various other materials. I did not want my friends to go all over the place to find out about this AZ Certification.

We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge. Hence thought of sharing the details.

 

Let me jump to our topic.

 

AZ 900 Fundamentals – the most important Certificate whenever you are starting with Azure or any Cloud computing in general.

 

·       This is a basic level or Beginner level test - you need not deep dive into any specific topic.

·       It will just give a brief overview of cloud concepts and cloud services.

·       This is specifically designed for people who just beginning the cloud journey from either old technology - like me :-)  or who are already known to other cloud service providers like - Google or Amazon.

·       No Prerequisites are required for you to begin/do this certification.

 

I will cover the

1. Overview of the course
2. Reference Material
3. Question distribution
4. Sample Questions.
5. Question formats
6. Azure Roadmap
7. Preparation
8. Exam center - In Person and Remote.
9. Tips and Grades to Pass
10. Exam Duration
11. Fees
12. Exam Retake Policy

Overview

 

This syllabus for the Test covers

 

Cloud Concepts: In this section, you'll learn about the basics of cloud computing and how Azure fits into the picture. You'll learn about the different types of cloud services (such as IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS), the benefits of cloud computing, and the drawbacks of traditional on-premises infrastructure. 

 

 Azure Architecture and Services: In this section, you'll learn about some of the most commonly used Azure services, and how to use them to build and manage applications. For example, you'll learn about virtual machines, storage, databases, and more. 

Azure Management and Governance: In this section, you'll learn about the ways that Azure

·       helps keep your data secure.

·       compliant with relevant regulations.

·       Azure's security features, such as identity management and access control

·       The ways you can use Azure to build trusted systems.

·       Different billing models available for Azure services,

·       How to maximize the value you get from Azure. 

 

 

Reference Material

Go to the Microsoft website and

·       Read the high-level overview of the Microsoft Azure Fundamental certification

·       Understand who can take the exam

·       What the skills are measured.

·       When the syllabus was last changed

·       What you can expect in the exam.

Exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals - Certifications | Microsoft Learn

 

As studied recently and cleared the exams will provide you the links where you learn the concepts

 

The site to learn the Azure concepts is well designed -  AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals full course  | Marczak.IO | Adam Marczak

 

·       This site provides full navigation which will allow you to navigate various episodes.

·       It will also tell the skills learned section - which will describe what is tested by this exam.

·       Each episode will also provide a study guide to official Microsoft documents and additional references from the web.

·       Study cheat sheet, additionally there are also practice tests for each episode.

 

 

Questions Distribution

All sections are important - but the % of questions distribution will be as below.

Cloud Concepts: 25-30% 

Azure Architecture and Services: 35 – 40%  

Azure Management and governance 30 – 35% 

You need to understand pretty much every single section to pass the exam.

 

Sample Questions

 YouTube Video – The Tech Blackboard 

 

AZ 900 Exam Cram - 135 new questions | Latest course covered | Free PDF - YouTube

AZ-900: Weekend Exam Cram | 191 Questions with Answers | Pass AZ 900 in 6 hours | Free pdf - YouTube

 

Question Formats – 

• Multiple Choice
• Multiple Answer
• Drag and drop
• Hot Area – a couple of dropdowns where you have to answer two things at once.

 

Azure Roadmap

It is the entry-level cloud certification for Microsoft Azure – meant for learning the cloud for the first time. It is the great first step towards other Certifications. Let me share the roadmap.

  

The Azure Roadmap: If you want to know what to do after this certification. Azure breaks up their certification Role-based. 

 

Fundamental - AZ 900

Associate - Administrator, Developer, AI Engineer, Data Scientist, Data Engineer, Security

Expert - Solution Architect, DevOps Engineer

Specialty - Azure for SAP Workloads, IoT Developer

 

Preparation 

Commonly for Sales and Management to help inform and sell to VPs and CEOS reasons for their company to utilize Microsoft Azure. 

Popular among developers to show that have familiar knowledge of cloud concepts. 

 

What value does the AZ 900 hold - If you are a developer, it is not going to be that useful on your resume, you need to move on to the associate or expert track. But that does not mean you should not get this one. If you are a developer and you already have cloud knowledge and another cloud provider like AWS /GCP you already have an associate level. You just want to show you can work across the cloud grabbing this AZ 900 certification. Just to get the transferable knowledge.  

 

The main reason to take this AZ 900 is because it helps to build confidence.

 

How much time do I need to put in?

If you are a developer. – Say junior to a mid-developer and you have been working in the industry for a few years - but you do not have cloud experience – you must spend 10 to 12 hours of study.

 

If you are a boot camp grad – without any real-world industry experience, but you want to take on AZ900 to help your resume stand out, you need to spend 20 to 25 hours.

 

If you are in Sales or management - and do not have the technical background but are trying to understand why you should adopt Azure or the cloud for your business you are looking for 35

to 40 hours to study. 

 

The way I recommend is to put in 1 to 3 hours a day, all seven days a week. Yes, I mean every 

single day. Do NOT spread this. Yes, just start, prep, and finish.

 

I just told my manager in my year-end appraisal somewhere in Mid-November, that I will complete it before the end of the year and Boom, I just completed it on Dec 7th.

 

If you want something you never had - you must do something you have never done before.

 

Exam center - In Person and Remote.

Where do you take the AZ900 exams?

The way this works with most cloud service providers is they are partnered with a company that is also partnered with a bunch of test centers around the world and Azure is partnered with ‘Pearson VUE’. The great thing about ‘Pearson Vue’ is that you can either go in person to a test center - use the Pearson Website and tell you the Test centers nearby or you can take it from the convenience of your own home. Yes, with a Pandemic, it got evolved. You have a web camera and have a very sparse room so that you do not have a bunch of things in the background, and they can trust that you are in a secure location - like your home office. It is called the proctored exam. You take the test under the supervision of a proctor – who monitors you through the web camera. I took the exam from home, and it was very convenient.

 

Tips and Grades to Pass 

 

What does it take to pass the exam?

 

At the beginning of the exam, there is a survey asking about your proficiency in Azure.

o   new

o   used for 3 to 6 months

o   used for a couple of years.

 

I believe based on this the severity of the question will be. So better to choose ‘New’, which I 

did. This is a secret, no one told me about it, nor any videos or sites.             

             

To pass the exam, you have to score 700 out of 1000. Yes, 70% is the passing score.

 

1. Memorize the key information.
2. If your career is in the Developer /Architect route - do take the hands-on lab sessions and follow along with your own Azure Free Account.

3.    Do a lot of Practice tests that simulate the real exam

 

Exam Duration

 60 mins is the exam time

            90 mins is the seat time - this refers to the amount of time you should allocate for the exam

It includes

o   time to review instructions

o   Read and accept the NDA

o   Complete the exams

o   Provide feedback at the end of the exam - which is optional

 

Exam Fees - It will cost you $99 in the USA.

Certification Validity. This certification that you receive will be valid for 2 years. You 

can hold to this for 24 months before you must get recertified,

 

Also, I recommend taking the free online set of learning provided by Microsoft.

 

 

Exam Retake Policy 

 

• If you do not pass an exam the first time, you must wait 24 hours before retaking it.
• A 14-day waiting period is imposed between all subsequent attempts (up to 5).
• You may not take a given exam more than five (5) times within 12 months from the first attempt. If you fail the exam 5 times, you’ll be eligible to retake it 12 months from the date of your first attempt.
• If you passed your Certification is valid for 2 years. You cannot retake an exam you have passed unless your certification has expired.
• You must pay to retake the exam (if applicable.)

  

Being Ops – what advantage is it for me?

 

Cloud computing is a buzz/hype word in the IT world today.

There are 5 characteristics of Cloud Computing

 1)   On-Demand Self-Service -  This allows the user to quickly and automatically get access to the IT resources without any other human interactions.

2)    2) Broad network access -  This is the ability to access the service from any standard device, connected to the network -  like PC, laptop, mobile phone, Tablets.

3)    3)Resource Pooling -  Compute, networking, and storage are pooled and shared across multiple customers

4)    4)Rapid Elasticity -  This  allows you  to  quickly  scale up  or shrink the capability  of  your  cloud, to  match  the level  of the user demand

5)    5)Metering - This tracks and controls the level  of usage or the cost  of the usage 

Microsoft Azure offers services such as virtual machine instances, storage, and messaging, as well as additional services such as machine learning and AI tools., Microsoft charges customers based on their usage of these services, as well as any additional features or support they subscribe to. Customers can choose from a variety of subscription plans based on their needs, and can even save money by committing to long-term usage.

Want to learn more about the Azure consumption – ACR – Azure Consumed Revenue and MACC = Microsoft Azure Consumed Commit.  There are various contractual commitments – the customer makes with Microsoft for a specific amount and time frame.

Done a lot of Financial calculations with FTE, Subcons, Vendor, Revenue, Cost, and profit. Just want to explore the Financial aspects $$ in the cloud computing arena on the intangible or conceptual. These include  Servers, storage, networking, databases, and applications over the internet.

I want to  share 2 important pointers

1)    Although I work at Microsoft, I am not a formal/official spokesperson to publicize this AZ 900 certification

2)    If you want to do any certification, do not wait for a green signal from your manager. If you have mentors/well-wishers, pls check with them, and then your manager. We do not know the managers' intentions.

 

If this is your first Azure certification it can be a bit intimidating and difficult to dial in your focus as you prepare. So, if you want to get ready for AZ900 without wasting time and money contact me anytime.

 

Everything is possible – you just must make it a Priority.

 

          Good Luck!