azure certifications the piece of paper for microsoft tells the universe that you are now an azure expert lars hold on there's a bit more to it than that yeah all right there is in fact azure certifications is a soup of numbers made up words and obscure paths however they are a great tool when used the right way and you understand how they work that's right but i hear azure certifications can be really confusing to find your way around yep they can but that is what i'm about to put a stop to no no really i will lay out the path to follow for each of the six common azure roles and will ensure you have the best tools for your azure journey this includes the sequence of certifications to study for a particular role as well as tips on studies exams level ups and optional paths all right i'll bite excellent let's get started and i'll start with the confusion that is azure certification oh boy where to start there is an aset 100 exam so that sounds like the well the entry level nope the fundamental exam is a z 900 obvious right and then after a z 900 you'd probably do a set 100 oh which by the way is now a z104 and then you'll be forgiven for thinking that a z120 is there next but that is a specialty course that is for a specific audience using sap once you've done a z104 you can then probably move to you know onto either a z303 but aside 500 usually comes before god it's ridiculous okay calm down lars it's going to be all right okay i'm sorry let me explain how to make sense of all of this then although if you're already familiar with azure exam categories and want to skip straight to a specific learning path recommendation you can find the timestamps listed in the description below now let me start with the exam categories which is understanding what all those numbers mean and also the hundred level is not the first step in addition each certification also has from one to three stars indicating the difficulty of the cert the level will be indicated on the learning paths later in this video now the way to read azure certification exams and understand where they fit has two parts two parts let's take aside 104 as an example first the letters of the exam in this case a z refers to the general area of azure az is azure in general exams starting with dp has to do with data a i is artificial intelligence and so on the numbers after the area code this is a phone number anyway refers to the discipline within that area and you have to look only at the first number so azad one series referred to the system administration type exams as a 2 series has to do with development and so on it's not a gradual increase in difficulty a way to ex progress through the exams or anything like that think of it as train lines each take you to a different destination now with that in mind here are the current azure exams which i'll go through area by area and discipline by discipline and remember this is just a run-through of what the categories of exams are this is not a list of progression for you to follow that would just be crazy talk and we don't do crazy at acg much as it one xxx this is for system administrator content any azure services features and concepts that relate to storage virtual machines virtual networks and identity management falls in this category as well as other infrastructure as a service products you need to understand how to manage alerts analyze log files create policies and any of the standard tasks commonly found in a day's work for a system administrator az2 xx is where developers call home if you write code for a living and you're looking for a career in building applications this is where your certifications live you need to be on top of azure platform as a service offerings using storage for development integration security concepts third-party integrations and troubleshooting if you're looking towards cloud architecture then as it three xx is your bag building on existing cloud skills solution architects implements robust environments managed on platforms monitor entire cloud solutions evaluates security risks and has the overall responsibility for the applications a company will have it is an experienced category and not something you just kind of jump into now i'll keep the numbers incrementing in a nice manner for now and go to as it for xx this is for devops related exams devops covers concepts like site reliability engineering sre security and compliance source control deployment of code continuous integration and much more actually this is a large area to cover making sense so far you can see how the numbering isn't sort of indicating any relation between the exams but rather categories of topics and content okay let's continue aside 5xx is all about security in azure this covers how to secure your data and applications using databases in the best way storing secrets and service credentials securely managing user access and protecting your azure infrastructure in general as i would get to a bit later security is a concept and skill that almost any cloud role needs to be across you have to be aware of what the risks and vulnerabilities are no matter what area of the cloud you work with so that is one two three four and five covered guess what is next nope it's a z9 xx because microsoft and aznax refers to the fundamentals of azure don't look so baffled of course 900 is the entry-level exam now i understand the confusion but as you will see at least 900 is always fundamentals i'll take that win anyway az-9xx covers almost all of azure at a very basic level this category is for exams where the learner has no or very little knowledge of azure and cloud computing and then we get to the more specific exam categories i will start with the dp xxx exams which are all about data data is a huge part of cloud computing as anything you do involves data you can't have a business application that doesn't handle data in some way as we just covered aside 9xx the equivalent data fundamentals category is dp9xx this category covers data concepts on azure relational data non-relational data analytics and other core azure data knowledge dp1 xx is for data science such as machine learning and data models dp2 xx is where data engineers find their bite size snacks such as data processing and data storage solutions dp3 xx is the home for database administrators that makes sure your data is stored correctly and finally i get to the last category i will cover in this video ai which covers well ai or artificial intelligence there's a fundamental category called ai 900 yay for consistency and a single ai-1xx category which is all about designing and implementing ai solutions in azure by now you have hopefully got a sense for how exams and certificates are structured when it comes to the naming and numbering you might also have noticed that there is quite a bit of overlap everything in the cloud is connected to each other that is both a challenge and a blessing as you get tightly integrated services that you can get a ton of value from but you also then have to know how to use them now finally we are talking about cloud computing here a field that is moving at an incredible speed in terms of innovations usage and adoption things evolve including the relevant certifications and exams azure's approach to overhauling the exam is to update the numbers we started off with az100 and that has become az 103 which has then become a z104 as with any rule there are exceptions for azure certification these are specialty categories or exams currently there are two specific exams that don't really fit in with the categories that are just covered az 1 2 0 120 does sit within the az 1xx category and could definitely be considered a system administrator certification but it focuses entirely on sap workloads as 220 also fits within the az2x category of developer certifications but it focuses specifically on internet of things or iot these two exams are niche and don't fit in any sort of general path there will be more of these most likely and they will cover similar niche topics and roles you now have a sense of how azure certifications work when it comes to topics numbering and coverage however part of what we do at acg is not only prepare you for an exam and achieving certification but also prepare you for the real world of cloud computing and working in the industry it isn't enough to just have a certificate to land a job but it can be a big advantage and step in the right direction now once you understand that the question is which exam should you start with which should you do next and how does it all sort of fit together so let's take a look at the six main roles we'll cover today developer data devops architect security and finally artificial intelligence now before i get into it though let's just clarify the role of az 900 azure fundamentals this is the very first certification if you have no experience or knowledge of azure it is the first for any role with that assumption i'll give my opinion on the minimum path required for each role so that you can get the foundation as well as perform in that actual role now microsoft has their microsoft certification pathway which is the minimum path to achieve a particular certification while this follows the microsoft rules and will get you a certification for sure in my opinion it does not prepare you for the role that's why in this video i'll focus on the acg role pathway i'll let you know what microsoft says is the minimum but my focus is to prepare you for the real world as much as i possibly can hence the role pathway makes sense okay so hold on to your socks yeah hold on to those and follow me as i go through the six main roles the certifications can help you master i'm developer myself and i have some idea of what i need to do my job the first role will take a bit to go through so bear with me first let's get the microsoft path out of the way it's az 900 azure fundamentals and then a z204 associate developer that's it once you have the knowledge from a z900 there are actually two ways that you can go the obvious path goes to asic 204 which is the associate developer certification and if you want to be a cloud developer using the azure platform it seems obvious to go that way however there is value in doing asset 104 the associate administrator certificate first 104 gives you a ton of knowledge around fundamental concepts such as virtual networks storage identity management and more that you will definitely need as a developer that's my suggestion do 104 and then 204 to give you the best foundation now with that sorted the path becomes a bit more straightforward you might have thought aside 204 was the end of the developer path but to get the most out of azure and the best cloud toolbox for you there's still more to do security is part of everything we do in cloud computer i did mention that before seriously it is important which is why is at 500 is next the associate security engineer certificate builds on aside 104 and 204 to put security paradigms and procedures in context of development that's important and then i would suggest doing the aset 303 and 304 to get the cloud architecture knowledge as well now these two exams are hard probably the most difficult of all of the azure exams however it indicates to potential employers that you take it seriously and hat you you have the expert knowledge of azure concepts while asap 303 and 304 are two exams they give you just one certification azure solutions architect expert if you're still hungry for more developer certification knowledge get stuck into the world of devops and study for ase8400 data is part of everything in the cloud it is what makes a business have a product informs strategic decisions show progress indicates how your nicholas cage painting sales are going and much more in fact data is so important in asia microsoft has given the topic its own letters dp microsoft has three data paths that all start with dp900 data fundamentals and then you do either dp100 for data scientist dp203 for data engineering or you do dp300 to be a database administrator the htg role pathway goes like this after ac900 azure fundamentals or equivalent the best first step is to take the data specific fundamental exam dp900 this will give you a good foundation for what data in azure means and how it is used after dp900 do az104 azure administrator before then going back into the data specific exams now 104 will give you that deeper level of understanding the very fundamental building blocks on azure such as storage networking compute and identity i can't stress enough how important it is to get this knowledge packed into your cloud toolbox back to data certifications db100 will take you through data science topics such as azure machine learning training data models consuming those models and much more if you're more into data engineering dp203 will ensure you can implement data storage develop data processing optimize data solutions manage data security and compliance and design data solutions this is the largest of the data certification areas finally if databases administration of those is more your thing db300 is the right path this certification makes sure that you can design efficient database queries set up automation tasks secure the database itself optimize it and much more now again these three paths are parallel db100 doesn't necessarily come before dp300 you can do any of them first or indeed not all three totally up to you okay that was a lot of information for those two paths developer and data the next two will be a lot quicker i promise azat 400 devops engineer expert is the only exam that has microsoft mandated exams you have to pass before you consider it hence the microsoft certification pathway is either az900 azure fundamentals as 204 developer associate then as 400 or you do a z900 a z104 azure administrator associate and then az400 in other words you can do the developer path or system administrator path before devops in my opinion that is selling yourself short and making a z400 much harder to pass instead as mentioned earlier do az 900 and as it 104 as a foundation and once you have that foundational azure knowledge dive into anz 204 and get the developer side of the story doing as it 104 and 204 will give you the foundation for both operations and development obstaff well devops before you get stuck into a z400 devops engineer expert i do recommend doing a z500 azure security engineer associate as a large part of the devops world revolves around well security having a z500 under your belt will further cement your skills using azure services securely and more importantly identify when they aren't skills like securing data and applications and managing identity and access are also critical for a devops role now finally finish off with a z400 itself which is one of the three expert level exams the other two being aset 303 and az304 so um happy devopsing being a solutions architect is not a first step in your career nor should it be the first certification path you go for it is often a more experienced role and other certifications come before it in this case i think microsoft is being just a tiny bit optimistic as their certification pathway states you can take azet 303 azure architect technologies and az304 azure architect design straight after az 900 and that is just crazy talk in my opinion also note that 303 and 304 are two exams again that counts towards a single certification azure solutions architect expert now my take on it is that the architect path is a kind of different version of the developer path the two have a lot in common after az 900 you can do either az 104 as you administrator or az204 as your developer depending on your disposition to system administration or development you can absolutely also do both but it isn't required you then do a z500 to get the security stuff right which is a very necessary part of being a cloud architect architecture that isn't secure is kind of useless and definitely will not get you any friends finally complete aside 303 and 304 to get the full solution architect experience and be that expert level certified as your professional we've almost covered security already through architecture first though microsoft states that you can do asid 500 azure security technologies straight after z900 and that is a tall order instead i have my acg path for you security is much the same as architecture in my opinion as these two roles are very closely related only for security i would say do both az 104 azure administrator and az204 as your developer don't just choose one of them so do 104 204 500 303 and finally 304 it's almost like a song piece of cake right the last of the six roles that predominantly cover the azure certification is artificial intelligence or ai this is a short path but one that could expand in the future as ai becomes a standard part of business operations and strategy microsoft only has ai 900 azure ai fundamentals and then ai 102 designing and implementing an azure ai solution as their path passing your ai 102 exam will certify you as an azure ai engineer associate to be fair that isn't far off what i would recommend but let me explain after doing a z900 complete the ai specific fundamental ai 900 certification this builds on the asia 900 content by drilling into specific machine learning principles describing computer vision workloads natural language processing and other common ai types of operations ai 102 is next on the list where you get your hands on solution requirements for ai as well as monitoring and implementing these solutions now the level of this exam is very basic and not a ton of in-depth knowledge is needed which is also why i would highly recommend completing az104 associate administrator after ai 102 in order to get a much better foundation for azure in general which will make your ai solutions much more valuable and robust where does that leave you then that's a lot of information to take in and a lot of potential paths to follow and decisions to make if you know exactly which role to pursue awesome if not then the best place to start is to study as 900 azure fundamentals and az 104 microsoft azure administrator these two certifications are the foundation for a larger part of any projects on azure and remember that while microsoft says you can take pretty much any exam after az 900 with a few exceptions i wouldn't as the learning curve and jump from a foundational level to associate is often greater than at first glance follow the acg role paths in this video will give you the very best preparation for working with azure cloud computing ah the exam how do you prepare for it the best way that is one of the most common questions i get and the really useless answer is well it depends however it does how do you learn best what makes information stick in your head we all learn in different ways so this is a tough one to answer at acg we pride ourselves on creating certification courses that are engaging thorough concise and often entertaining we have practice quizzes practice exams cheat sheets forums to ask the instructors specific questions blog posts explaining concepts in writing webinars and much more we want you to succeed in the cloud computing industry and part of that is passing certifications we aim to give you as many online tools as possible to help both study for the exams as well as feel comfortable when you are in the room some general tips for studying out schedule specific regular time to study two hours or more per week is a good idea as that keeps your momentum and sense of progression it is important to feel you are achieving something every single week set a deadline for when you want to take the exam having a firm deadline will make you prioritize the exam at its importance if you get distracted easily have a dedicated space away from everything else to study reward yourself for completing a lesson at chapter the exam make it an occasion to complete another step yeah have balloons find a study group online that you can join and share questions and ideas this could be at your work or through the acg forums now the exam itself varies a lot depending on which one you're sitting az 900 as an example is only 85 minutes and covers around 40 to 60 questions it's a great way to get a sense for exams if you haven't done one before the question types vary a lot there are more than 40 types of questions as far as i know but they change often to keep the content fresh some are multiple choice some are scenario based some are multiple true false options in a row with no review and the important thing is to know the concepts services and products in the exam area there's no way to memorize a bunch of facts for the exam and then sort of hope to pass you have to actually understand the material so where do you think you will start with your azure journey then if you've never done any azure work or content start with a0900 otherwise have a look at the cheat sheet i've included with the video let me know in the comments or the acg forum what your journey is like and i will be happy to answer any certification questions that you might have to see you soon on the acg
2021-03-04