Passed AZ-500 with 800 (18-July-2020)

E Double U

This was my 3rd attempt. Haven't failed two attempts since my CISSP attempts back in 2014/2015. I actually did not find the content that difficult, but during this new way of living/working with COVID-19 plus the recent activities in USA on my mind made concentration very difficult.

I took a week-long bootcamp back in March with access to Skillpipe material for studies. I also read through content on the Microsoft site while playing with my company's Azure portal to get familiar with everything. This time around everything just sunk in. Before I was just reading without really processing the information. I just went for the exam because my employer gave us two free vouchers so I decided hey, why not. This time around I bought another voucher using my work provided personal development budget because I like to finish what I start even though this certification is not required for work. 

Now on to some leisure reading before I move on to ITIL and maybe more Azure later in the year. 

Neil86

Congrats on the pass!

chrisone

Congrats! I plan on taking my exam next Saturday  

I took that same skillpipe AZ-500 source back in November. I am in the middle of AZ-500 MeasureUP labs. You get 23 labs you can perform twice for $49. Its a bargain and allows you to reinforce your skills. Hopefully I get the good news you got today! 

Awesome work and display of not giving up! 

E Double U

@chrisone - I had 36 questions with no labs, but knowing your way around the portal will definitely help you answer multiple questions. 

Good luck! 

test4500

well done ....I got 814 on the first attempt but suspect it was a bit of a different exam now ....with the Sentinel stuff in it

chrisone

I took the new exam in August. I failed, but I hear a lot of people who have studied for some time are able to get a pass even with the new questions. I am getting a free cert retake with the ignite free cert program, so I will give my second attempt some time next year. 

To be transparent, I tried to "squeeze" in the AZ-500 this year into my busy schedule. I took the AZ-500 Security Skillpipe virtual instructor course in Nov 2019, studied Udemy/Microsoft/MeasureUp labs, CBT, practice questions for about 2 months. The exam changed by the time I took it, but I will be honest I needed more practice and more understanding of the technologies. 

cyberguypr

E Double U, did you go AZ-900 > AZ-500 or did you fit something in between?

E Double U

@cyberguypr

AZ-900 in January
GDSA in March
AZ-500 in July
ITIL 4 in August

cyberguypr

Cool. And how is your Azure practical experience? Asking because I am taking a break from AWS after 3 certs and starting the Azure path. Doing AZ-900 in a few weeks and trying to determine id I need anything to cover gaps before AZ-500.

chrisone

Although you are asking "E Double U" I will chime in my little experience. Going from AZ-104 to AZ-500 would help but looking at the 104 labs and topics, its a monster. Probably heavily overkill for AZ-500. If you are only concerned about Azure security go AZ-900 to AZ-500. 

Studying for AZ-500, courses/CBT/labs go over with you creating VMs, VNETs, DBs, WebApps, etc. These are things you will learn in AZ-104, but going that route you will have to learn so much and its a beast of an exam on its own.

You can definitely go AZ-900 to AZ-500. 

https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE4AJyG

My only change to this would be, "if you are going the full route to Azure Architect, start with AZ-900, AZ-104, AZ-500, AZ-204, DP-300, AZ-303, AZ-304, etc." 

cyberguypr

That helps. Thanks a lot.

E Double U

chrisone said:

Although you are asking "E Double U" I will chime in my little experience. Going from AZ-104 to AZ-500 would help but looking at the 104 labs and topics, its a monster. Probably heavily overkill for AZ-500. If you are only concerned about Azure security go AZ-900 to AZ-500. 

Who asked you LOL j/k

cyberguypr - I am not an Azure expert, but there are so many Azure projects going on within my department I was able to get help with filling in the gaps. Most of my practical experience is with the Azure firewall and other Azure networking components so I had to study really hard to pass. Considering that I failed twice it could be something else could've been helpful to study in between, but I didn't go that route. I just planned sessions with my teammates to explain every topic I struggled with. When you fail an exam twice you really learn where your weak areas are lol.