Azure has more than 600 cloud-based services that fall under the four categories of infrastructures, including infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platforms as a platform (PaaS), software as a service (SaaS) as well as serverless services. One of the advantages that Microsoft Azure boasts of is that it is compatible with Microsoft-based and third-party platforms.
Microsoft offers a range of Azure certifications that professionals are able to achieve through different routes to prove their expertise in the delivery of Azure-based solutions. At the 2018 Ignite Conference, Microsoft announced the changes it plans to introduce to its certification routes based on feedback it received throughout the years. In this announcement, new certifications were announced, and older ones were set to be removed at the end of the year in the hope of making Azure certification more geared towards roles to allow professionals greater flexibility and better pathways when they design their careers. However, the Azure foundation's certification AZ-900 is the first step to Azure certification career pathways.
The year 2021 saw additional changes to the Azure certification renewal and expiration procedures, which we will examine within this post. As you'll be able to see, certain courses were launched, and others were canceled the same year.
Here's a current overview of the most recent Azure Certifications updates.
Microsoft Azure Certification is based on roles. routes
The introduction of certifications based on the role has resulted in Microsoft providing its certifications via an easy three-level path starting from the foundation level, associate level to expert level, and then the specialist levels. Each certification level is designed to enable one for specific positions at the next stage, such as admin, data scientist AI, data analyst, or developer roles.
The brand-new Microsoft Azure certification pathway is designed in the following manner:
Fundamental certifications
The foundation course is designed to teach professionals the basic concepts and ideas that are part of the Azure platform cloud services, cloud-based applications, and capabilities.
* A-900 * A-900 Microsoft Certified Azure Fundamentals: A fundamental certification that provides an understanding of basics and the implementation of Azure-based cloud-based services. It is designed for those who are just beginning in administrative positions that are not technical and for those trying to establish themselves on the path to success. There aren't any prerequisite classes for the A-900 test, and it's a choice based on the goals of the candidate. But, basic knowledge of cloud computing will be helpful.
* AI-900 * AI-900 Microsoft Certified Azure AI Fundamentals The certification is specifically designed for individuals who are planning to pursue AI Azure certifications based on roles. It is a base certification that shows the knowledge of an individual about common machine learning and artificial intelligence concepts as well as their application in Azure. Azure cloud. An understanding of general programming is suggested.
* DP-900 Microsoft Certified Azure Data Fundamentals The certification is for professionals looking to work in data-related positions in the Azure cloud. Azure cloud. The content will be to be updated in 2021. Those who take it will have a solid understanding of the fundamental concepts in data that work with relational as well as non-relational data in the Azure cloud and data analytics. This course helps individuals prepare for the role of data scientist, database administrator, and data engineer roles.
Azure Associate Certifications
After obtaining the associate certification, professionals can begin to look for specific Azure roles and develop their skills in the specific roles they're pursuing.
* DP-100 * DP-100 Microsoft Certified Azure Data Scientist Associate: A data science intermediate-level certification that focuses on the implementation of ML using Azure. Azure platform. It is intended for data scientists who must first think about taking this course. DP-900 Azure Data Fundamental certification course.
AI-102 - Microsoft Certified Azure AI Engineer Associate The AI-102 certification shows a professional's capability to work with solution architects to design, manage, and implement Azure-based AI solutions that specifically utilize Azure Cognitive Services, Azure Cognitive Search, and Microsoft Bot Framework. Expertise with C#, Python, or JavaScript languages, as well as the use of REST-based APIs as well as SDKs, along with successfully completing the AI-100 (retiring at the end of June 2021) or AI-200 Designing and Implementing Microsoft AI solutions (released February 2021) courses are required.
* The DP-203 exam is Microsoft Certified Azure Data Engineer Associate. This exam replaces the DP-201 along with the DP-202 certifications that will be retired in June 2021. DP-203 can be described as an associate-level certification that prepares professionals to perform the Azure-based engineering position that requires them to demonstrate their knowledge of integrating, changing, and combining data from different sources to create analytics solutions. Experience with SQL, Python, or Scala is a requirement.
* Arizona-204 * AZ-204 Microsoft Certified Azure Developer Associate The developer role certification helps professionals create, develop and test, as well as maintain cloud-based applications and services that run on Azure. Azure platform. The prerequisites for this certification are two to three years of professional development experience, working experience with Azure as well as experience with programming languages that can be used with Azure.
* AZ-104 Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate The admin role certification shows professional expertise in managing, implementing, and monitoring an organization's Microsoft Azure environment, which encompasses access and identity, as well as management, networks, storage, and computation, among others. The prerequisites for this certification include six months' Azure Administration experience.
* D-300 - Microsoft Certified Azure Database Administrator Associate: The associate database administrator's role involves the development and administration of Azure cloud-based data platforms, which are built using SQL Server and Azure data services. The primary requirement of this certification is a deep understanding of the concepts discussed within the DP-900 Microsoft Azure Data fundamentals certification course.
* Az-500 Microsoft Certified Azure Security Engineer Associate This certification is specifically designed for security engineers who want to show their capability to design and implement security measures such as security measures identity and access and solutions to protect data across cloud-based applications, resources, and networks.
Azure Expert Certifications
As the name suggests, this certification level indicates a long-standing knowledge and skills in specific Azure positions.
Arizona-303 (AZ-303) - Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect Expert Level: At the expert stage, Azure solutions architects should be proficient in the process of designing and implementing complete Azure architectures that include storage, network, compute as well as security aspects. The prerequisites for this certification are that the person has advanced levels of Azure Administration, Azure development, and DevOps practices.
Az-400 (AZ-400) Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert: This certification is designed specifically for DevOps engineers to develop expertise in managing processes, people, and technologies to consistently bring business value. To be eligible for this course, the DevOps engineer must be a student of one of an Azure Developer Associate course and/or Azure administrator associate or Azure administrator Associate certifications.
Azure's specialty certifications are among them.
* AZ-220 - Microsoft Azure IoT Developer Specialty
* A-120 - Planning and Administration Azure for SAP Workloads. Microsoft Azure to manage SAP workloads specialties
2021 Microsoft Certification Expiration and Renewal Changes
The previous Microsoft role-based certifications had been only valid for two years, after which you had to retake the tests and be certified to renew them.
In June 2021,
* All certificates will be valid for a single year.
* Renewals are made within a period of six months prior to the date of their expiration.
* Renewals are done online and without cost.
In order to renew your certification, the applicant must successfully pass a free test.
After renewal, certificates remain valid for one year. The year is counted starting from the previous (initial expiration if it was one of the initial) expiration.
* Current certifications are eligible for the validity period of two years, and online assessment is free for renewal until June 2021.
