April Sutton: Microsoft Azure Certification: The Definitive Guide

With thousands of online courses and certificates available online, it has become challenging for people to narrow down their options to the best and most reputed courses of all. To help people sort out this dilemma, here we will talk about one of the most sought-after certificate courses which is, the Microsoft Azure certification courses. Azure is a cloud computing service operating under its parent body – Microsoft. You might have heard about other Microsoft certification courses like the Microsoft cloud certification, which have been recommended by various industry professionals and industry heads. Azure certifications also offer a wide variety of options to choose from. All the courses are related to the technological field and would prove beneficial for your resumes.

How Many Types of Azure Certification Are There?

There are nine different types of Microsoft Azure Certifications across other subjects and topics, beginning from beginner level to advanced level courses. The beginner-level courses aim to facilitate the learning process and prepare the course takers to advance to the same course’s higher levels or a different one. This step-by-step learning process makes it easy for learners to grasp various topics’ fundamentals.

How To Find the Right Course for Yourself?

Many courses available might intimidate some people while undertaking Azure certification training. Given below is a list of relevant factors and points to remember, which might help you in choosing your desired goals –

Choose the areas of spinalization which most suit your interests and goals.
The next step is to decide whether you want to start from scratch with the beginning course or move on to the role-based certification courses straight away.
Your selected fields and interest would portray the type of courses which might be suitable for you. Please read about the courses and their syllabus before making a choice.
Choose and select the exam(s) you wish to enroll in.
Course takers have the option of giving the exam in an online or offline mode.

Azure Certification Courses and Costs

Azure certification costs are different for different courses. Given below is a list of the most popular Azure certification courses online –

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ – 900)

This is a beginner-level certification program aimed at solidifying learners’ fundamentals and preparing them for advanced courses. All information about Azure cloud computing would be provided at this level. Even candidates from non-technical backgrounds can benefit from this course. Here is a brief about what this course encompasses –

Complete knowledge and information about cloud concepts like High Availability, Disaster Recovery, scalability, etc.
Process of the Azure resource manager.
In-depth details on Azure firewall, DDoS subscription, Azure subscription, etc.
Understanding the methods of purchase and the Azure subscription details and processes.
The duration of the exam is 85 minutes, with a total of 40- 60 questions.
The minimum marks required to pass are 700.
The cost of the certificate is $99.

Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ – 103)

This course aims to teach the course takers topics such as monitoring, controlling, implementing, and maintaining secure services of Microsoft Azure. This certificate course ensures that the candidate has apt knowledge of the Azure system’s storage, security, and networking processes. Here is a brief about what this course encompasses –

Learn how to analyze Azure resource utilization.
Learn the usage and functioning of Azure files and Azure backups.
Learn how to apply the Azure load balancer.
Learn about the Network Security Group (NSG) in-depth.
The duration of the entire exam is 150 minutes with a total of 40- 60 questions.
The minimum marks required to pass are 700.
The cost of the certificate is $165.

Microsoft Azure Developer (AZ – 203)

This course is mainly designed for developers. This course has some prerequisites, like creating and building skills and knowledge of cloud application services. The course will also teach course takers in at least one cloud platform supporting programming language. Here is a brief about what this course encompasses –

Detailed information about Azure resource manager and managing templates.
Learn to create Azure-managed Kubernetes service clusters.
Learn how to develop container images.
Learn skills to develop application services, like mobile applications, web applications, API applications and many more.
Course takers will be given access to relational databases.
Learn how to use the Azure monitor and how to troubleshoot problems.
Learn how to apply auto-scaling rules and patterns.
The total duration of the exam is 150 minutes.
There are 40- 60 real questions in the exam.
You need at least 700 marks to pass the examination.
The cost of the entire course is $165.

Microsoft Azure AI Engineer (AI- 100)

This Microsoft certification course teaches the takers how to apply Microsoft applications and solutions to Artificial Intelligence. You will learn about natural language processing, bots, and speeches. Here is a brief about what this course encompasses –