Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (10979) Training & Certification

No matter which certification exam path you choose, the AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals is a prerequisite, even though the certification is optional. It is the starting point for all other role-based examinations. When you clear this exam, you get the opportunity to get other Azure certification based on your interest, roles, and responsibilities. It is the most recommended approach to have any Azure role-based certification examination. The certification measures skills such as your understanding of Cloud Concepts, core Azure services, security, compliance, trust, and privacy as well as Azure support and pricing. Even though it is a Fundamental certification, you still need to prepare well.

The Microsoft Azure training program is open to any individual interested in learning about Cloud computing, deployment, and development. You can visit the official Microsoft website to know more about the program. You can view courses or even register if you want to. You will also be able to check all the necessary information on every course. Once you select a specific course, you will be redirected to a page that provides you an overview of the course along with the course number and content of the course.

The Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA) is a free online school that offers courses covering topics related to Microsoft and specific products of Microsoft. There is a mix of live events and on-demand courses in the MVA. There is a video for each course along with the video transcript in the form of PDF download. Each module ends with a self-assessment tool. Depending on how students progress, points are awarded, and they move to different recognition levels. You earn points for taking self-assessment quizzes, watching videos, and downloading video transcripts. With more points, a member gets more opportunities to participate in the MVA’s various offerings. Topics offered through the Microsoft Virtual Academy include Business Intelligence, Desktop Management, Server Infrastructure, Device security, Programming, Cloud Computing, and Licensing. The coursework is meant to help willing learners learn how to do more effective work with Microsoft Azure and other tools. The free MVA coursework is hosted on Windows Azure.

Great technology is the one that keeps evolving and likewise, successful technologists are the ones who don’t stop learning. The purpose of Microsoft Virtual Academy is to help technologists learn continuously. The MVA offers online Microsoft training with hundreds of courses delivered by experts in eleven different languages. MVA helps knowledgeable IT professionals, developers, and even advanced students to learn about the latest technology, improve their skills, and give their careers a boost. Although free training is provided by the MVA for Microsoft certifications, members cannot directly earn certification through the Microsoft Virtual Academy.

Learning Azure helps you gain skills to develop and maintain crucial Cloud services. Before you learn Azure, you need to understand some related technologies like:

• Cloud Computing 
• Microsoft Knowledge 
• Programming

Following are the sources that help you learn the foundations of Azure and make you prepared to apply relevant skills in your profession

• Azure learning-as-a-service: Learning Azure involves ongoing training as well as resources and tools to guide you through the process. New Horizons’ learning-as-a-service provides you an opportunity to learn at your own pace.
• Training Courses: With instructor-led training courses, you get hands-on training to learn Azure.

If you have some knowledge of Cloud but aren’t sure of what it can do for you, Microsoft Azure Fundamentals is the place to start. The Azure Fundamental Certification gives you an opportunity to test your knowledge of Cloud concepts, Azure pricing, core Azure services, life cycle, and SLA, and the fundamentals of Cloud privacy, security, trust, and compliance. The certification is meant for individuals who are starting to work with Cloud-based services and solutions. Candidates are required to have a foundational understanding of Cloud services and how Microsoft Azure helps provide those services. Azure Fundamentals can be used to prepare for other specialty or role-based certifications from Microsoft Azure, although it is not a prerequisite.

In general, there are four factors that determine the level of difficulty of a Microsoft Azure certification:

1. The level of knowledge you have in your domain
2. The amount of experience you have gained until now
3. The role for which the exam is being taken
4. The level of the examination, including foundational and role-based

The level of difficulty increases based on how much knowledge you’ve gained so far and your job role. Your experience and knowledge can make things easier for you. If you already have a good understanding of Microsoft Azure from your work experience, you will not find it difficult to pass the exam. If you are new to Azure, you may have to dedicate time to prepare.

Microsoft recently made changes to the existing certification path to make Azure certification more role based. It establishes a learning path, starting from the Fundamental Level to the Associate Level and finally to the Expert Level. There are various roles for which there are five certifications paths.

The roles are:

• Azure Fundamentals 
• Azure Administrator Associate 
• Azure Developer Associate 
• Azure Solutions Architect Expert 
• Azure DevOps Engineer Expert 
• Azure Security Engineer Associate 
• Azure Data Engineer Associate 
• Azure AI Engineer Associate 
• Azure Data Scientist Associate 
• Azure IoT Developer 
• Azure Architect for SAP Workloads

Candidates should opt for a certification track that matches their skills and career preferences.

You have different options when it comes to taking Microsoft Azure Training:

• E-Learning: This helps you learn at a pace and time convenient for you. You can make use of Azure videos from industry experts and end-to-end course content.
• Live Online Training: Attend Azure online training sessions and get access to LMS. You also get certification guidance through this method.
• Corporate Training: Corporates often organize traditional classroom trainings from industry experts at their own facilities. These would be great opportunities to get trained on site. The course content is designed according to project requirements and the learning method is very engaging, involving exercises, discussions, and practical use cases.

You need to register for the examination. Microsoft’s website contains exam information pages, where you can find a “Schedule Exam” button. Clicking on the button takes you to the process of registration. Presently, the cost for most Microsoft Certification exams is $165. You will have to pay the examination fee each time you take the certification exam. So, if you fail, making another attempt to pass will require you to make the payment again.

If you require a Microsoft Certification and are looking for a preparation method other than traditional classroom training, you can take online classes from Microsoft’s Learning Portal. Through Microsoft Learn, you get hands-on learning that is rewarding and helps you reach your goals faster. It provides learning paths and modules tailored to the technology and developers of today. What’s more, is that it’s free! You get instant access to Microsoft modules and tools through the browser.

Microsoft’s Learning Portal is the simplest way to learn products and services through interactive and task-based learning. It offers more than 80 hours of free content in 23 different languages. It allows the use of Learn Sandbox to get free fixed-time access for creating and managing Azure resources. You can track your progress, validate scripts and check knowledge for earning points, trophies, levels and achievements.

You can go to the “Browse Learning” page on Microsoft’s website where you can discover all the available learning content. You will be able to search for content and filter results based on different tags like Product, Job Role, and Level.

Whether you are a professional who wants to level up quickly or are new to the Cloud, you would want to get started as quickly as possible. You can get a demo of popular Azure services from an expert and learn to use Azure. Here are some quick ways to further learn how Microsoft Azure works: 

• Watch Azure demos on popular services like Azure Functions, Azure Storage, and Azure App service in action.  
• Read the Azure developer guide to know more about Azure services, tools, portal, and software developer kit.  
• Take Azure courses to learn how you can use Azure for managing infrastructure and developing using Node.js and .NET

AZ-900 is the examination that tests your foundational level knowledge of Azure services and Cloud concept. This examination is meant for individuals who are starting to work with Cloud-based services and solutions. If you have experience in other major Cloud providers, you will find most of the AZ-900 content to be similar to what you have previously learned. The content of this examination is beneficial for any individual who wants to break into Cloud computing on Azure. To earn this certification, candidates are required to demonstrate a fundamental knowledge of Cloud concepts and Azure services, security, workloads, pricing, support, and privacy.

To schedule your AZ 900 examination, visit Microsoft’s website and find the AZ-900 examination page from “Browse Certification”. Follow the steps given below to complete the process: 

• You will find a “schedule exam” option on the page, where you can select your country and view the price of the certification exam.
• You will get two options: “Schedule with Pearson VUE” and “Schedule with Certiport”
• You need to select “Schedule with Pearson VUE” after which you will need to login to your Microsoft Account.
• Next, fill the profile section with all the necessary information; select the checkboxes before clicking on Save and continue. 
• If you are eligible for the discourse, then you need to verify or link your account. Otherwise, select “Go to Pearson VUE” 
• Next, you will be required to select the mode of test. Select all the checks, select your language, and verify your system requirements and click on Next.
• You will be then be able to choose a suitable time and date for your examination
• Verify your details before selecting “Proceed to Checkout”
• You will be redirected to the Payments page, where you need to make online payment 
• Before clicking on “Submit Order”, verify your details and slot.  
• You will receive an OTP on your registered phone number. The final step to finish the scheduling process would be to provide the OTP. 

The amount of time it takes to earn an Azure certification tends to vary a lot depending on your work experience and prior education. If you have prior experience with Cloud services and Azure, you will not need much time to study for the Microsoft Azure certification program and pass the exam. If you are new to the Cloud, however, it may take you a bit longer. Further, if you have an educational background in IT or computer science, you will find it easier to study for the exams and pass it.

The process of preparing for your examination will determine your eventual result. Hence, you must take the time to prepare properly if you are serious about passing the AZ-900 certification exam. If you follow the right preparation steps, you can pass the exam in the initial attempt itself. To prepare for your exam, you can make use of the following learning resources:

• Microsoft Learning Platform
• Microsoft Documentation
• Instructor-led Training
• Forums and Study Groups
• Books and Periodicals
• Sample Tests
• E-books, White Papers, and Analyst Reports

The Azure Fundamentals examination is 60 minutes long and contains approximately 40-60 questions. There are no simulated lab scenarios. It has multi-choice questions that may have one or more correct answers and some multi-part questions as well. Following are the main areas of focus for the examination:

• Understanding Cloud Concepts: 15-20%
• Understanding Core Azure Services: 30-35%
• Understanding Security, Compliance, Privacy, and Trust: 25-30%
• Understanding Azure Support and Pricing: 25-30%

The percentages indicate how much these areas contribute to your final examination score. You need to score 700 or more to pass the AZ-900 exam.

A Microsoft Certified Professional is an IT professional or developer who has undergone Microsoft Certified Professional Program and has validated their technical expertise through industry-recognized, rigorous, and industry-proven exams. There is a huge range of technologies in the Microsoft IT ecosystem covered by the certification exams. You can become a Microsoft Certified Professional by passing the exams aligned with a specific certification. The process to earn certifications constantly changes. The new process has variable selection and number of examinations required for achieving Microsoft certification. It is also possible to re-earn a certification by passing an additional elective exam.

The new Azure Certification examinations are role-based. The different roles are: 

• Azure Fundamentals
• Administrator Associate
• Developer Associate
• Solutions Architect Expert 
• DevOps Engineer Expert 
• Security Engineer Associate 
• Data Engineer Associate 
• AI Engineer Associate 
• Data Scientist Associate 
• IoT Developer
• The architect for SAP Workloads 

You can find details on the certification exam that come under the new Microsoft Certifications Path. Each exam has a specific course content and certain prerequisites that individuals should be aware of before taking the exam. Check the exam overview to get information on the exam, its objectives, and domains.

You can find Microsoft Certified Centres directly on Pearson VUE’s website. When you visit the website, you will find an option to “Find a test centre”. Once you click on this option, you will be redirected to a page where you can search for test centres according to location. Enter your location in the search bar and you will get a list of Microsoft Certified Test Centres near you.