Azure Certification…where to start?

kavyasahu

I'm a DevOps Engineer and looking to expand my knowledge with some certifications, in particular, MCSA and MCSE from Microsoft on Azure.

I'm interested in the following exams for now which count for MCSA

Exam 70-532: Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions Exam 70-533: Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions

I have no Idea where to start in learning, I have a Pluralsight and SafariBooks Online accounts should I start with there. Anyone who took the exams is so kind to guide me also on where/what to srart with.

shochan

First thing I would do is look on Microsoft's Learning site, a lot of it is free training.  Do some research on it & you will find it.  Being a great IT guru is being able to find tips and tricks yourself.

eillinois31

Those 2 exams you have listed expire at the end of this month December 2018. I'm too new to post links, but if you google '70-533' and to the official exam objectives, under 'skills measured' in red it has the blog post talking about the new Azure test and new paths. 

I have not took these specific exams(70-532/533), took the 70-740/741/742 this year and taking 70-744 in Jan, but have looked at this before considering taking this test 70-533(but was going to expire so went with 70-744). 

You may have found this out by now, but if not wanted to post. 

SteveLavoie

One of the best up to date ressource for Azure certs are the course from Udemy by Scott Duffy. He has already updated his 70-533 to AZ-100 material. 

Arkrain

In https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/ you have a free interactive learning

aron90s

@Arkrain Great study materials!

Nadzz

Microsoft Azure Home page/Portal is more user friendly then Amazon Console

deitz11

@kavyasahu unfortunately, Azure examination and certification path is evolving like crazy. I was part of the AZ100 - AZ200 Exam group but then I found out that this year, it has been superseded by AZ103 and AZ203. My advise, best if you could get on hold at AZ103 if you really want to start something in Azure, but really, depending on what background you have.

Azure exam, typically, had a heavy hands on exam question and case study, so best if you could as well do some hands-on on your own.
Try Cloudacademy, although they are in premium pricing but they have lab for you to play around - at least the time when I took this
or you could try registering to Azure free account and play around with it along with the exam.

Cheers

MrNetTek

@kavyasahu

From the many tests I've taken, you want one book (that covers the objectives), one course (with quality content---MS Learn), and one set of videos (with demos---YouTube/MS Learn/CBTNuggets). The first step I always take is to gather all my resources, then create a sort of personal syllabus (which includes how and what I will study), and I set an estimated test date.

I just passed the 900 exam, and moving on to the 103. Examples of gathering your resources can be seen at my site: 900 and 103.

As for Pluralsight, SafariBooks, and other sites....make sure they have the latest material. Cloud is changing so fast, it's difficult to stay current. If you study older material, you will not pass the exam.

-MrNetTek at your service-

Surchi

Hello Dear,

One of my friend who lives in Christchurch, New Zealand and he studied the same MCSE course last year because he was saying there is a great demand for this course in the IT market of New Zealand.
He took AZURE INFRASTRUCTURE 70-533 certification from Logi Train and he cracked it in his first attempt.
If you want to explore more you can search the institute online.

Thanks!

chrisone

MrNetTek said:

I just passed the 900 exam, and moving on to the 103. Examples of gathering your resources can be seen at my site: 900 and 103.

            

Hey congrats on the 900 pass. I was checking out your resources and have come across similar paths. I was hesitant to get that exam ref book, didn't see anyone comment or rate it. Now that I read your review, I am going to get the kindle version. Also how many test questions did you get from that udemy course? Did you check out the "AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Microsoft Official Practice Test" questions? Based off the reviews they don't seem that good. 

I am just finishing up the Azure fundamentals online course modules from Microsoft. I am planning to go through the syllabus line by line and grinding those concepts one by one. I would like to supplement the course modules & syllabus studying with some form of practice questions. Undecided if I should use the test questions you used from the udemy course or the official test questions from Microsoft. 

Thanks!

deitz11

Congrats @MrNetTek

MrNetTek

@chrisone

My advice? Use both set of questions.

As for any MS cert book, they have to be used in conjunction with other study material. Normally, the Exam Tips and Summaries become my study notes.

-MrNetTek at your service-

chrisone

Thanks for the tip, by the way, what was the udemy course you obtained these questions?

MrNetTek

@chrisone

I pulled questions from the instructor's website...just to acquire more Q&A. 

Some material I studied with ratings:

Azure fundamentals | 9 hr 35 min – 12 Modules (MS Learn)  [completed] [free] [rating 8/10]

Microsoft AZ-900 Course | 4 hr 30 min – (Skyline Academy)  [complete] [paid] [rating 10/10]

Azure Tutorial For Beginners | 1 hr 38 min – Microsoft Azure  [completed] [free] [rating 9/10]

Azure Interview Questions And Answers | 59 min  [completed] [free] [rating 9/10]

Study these

Quizlet Flashcards [free]

AZ-900 Flashcards I

AZ-900 Flashcards II

AZ-900 Flashcards III

Other [free]

Understand Core Services

Align Requirements – Cloud Types & Services Models

Azure AZ-100 Compute

AZ-100 Intro to VMs

AZ-100 Intro to Security

AZ-100 Intro to Networking

Azure AZ-100 Intro to Storage

Azure AZ-100 Compute

-MrNetTek at your service-

chrisone

Thanks again! I am just finishing the MS Learn course. I will look at the Udemy course you provided next as I need a CBT to supplement my resources. 

By the way how was the level of difficulty for the exam? Were all these resources overkill? or you feel you had to have the amount of resources you collected in order to pass? 

MrNetTek

@chrisone

Not overkill...but, I figured whatever I learned would help me with the 103. The exam wasn't overly difficult --- pay attention to the MS objectives; make sure you know each one.

-MrNetTek at your service-

wirygnrhd

Hi, if you do not know where to start, you can try this AZ-900 exam first, which is for Microsoft certified Azure Fundamentals. You can practice CertQueen AZ-900 questions onlinle. 

srothman

I have to agree here. I would suggest AZ-900 > AZ-103 > AZ300/301 and/or AZ-400, depending on your liking. Throw in AZ-500 along the way, because security, right