Microsoft AZ-900: Essential Exam Details

Microsoft doesn’t publish the details of its certification tests. Nevertheless, some important features are known from the previous examinees. There will be around 40-60 questions to be answered within one hour. The content may comprise of various question types, including case study, multiple choice, short answers, mark review, drag and drop, etc. The Microsoft AZ-900 test is delivered in English, Korean, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, French, and German through the Pearson VUE platform. As stated on the Microsoft website, the registration fee for this foundational-level exam is $99. This amount will have to be paid every time one takes the test. To prepare for this certification exam, you can pursue the official training courses, either free or paid, offered in the Microsoft webpage.

Microsoft AZ-900 Exam Overview:

Core Azure Solutions and Management Tools

• Explaining Azure management tools: the test takers need to demonstrate their ability to explain the utilization of Azure PowerShell, Azure Portal, Cloud Shell, Azure CLI, Azure Mobile App; explaining the Azure Advisor utilization; explaining the Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates utilization; explaining the Azure Monitor utilization; explaining the Azure Service Health utilization.
• Explaining key solutions delivered through the Azure platform: this includes such competencies as explaining the advantages and utilization of Internet of Things (IoT) Hub, Azure Sphere, IoT Central; explaining the advantages and utilization of HDInsight, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Azure Databricks; explaining the advantages and utilization of Cognitive Services, Azure Machine Learning, and Azure Bot Service; explaining the advantages and utilization of serverless computing solutions, including Logic Apps and Azure Functions; explaining the advantages and utilization of Azure GitHub, DevOps, Azure DevTest Labs, GitHub Actions.

Privacy, Governance, Identity, and Compliance Concepts

• Explaining Azure governance features: the learners need to prove their ability to explain the Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) utilization; explain the resource locks utilization; explain the tags utilization; explain the Azure Policy utilization; explain the Azure Blueprints utilization; explain Cloud Adoption Framework within the Azure platform.
• Explaining privacy and compliance resources: this requires one’s skills in explaining the Microsoft key tenets of Security, Compliance, and Privacy; explaining the function of Microsoft Privacy Statement, Data Protection Amendment (DPA), Online Services Terms (OST); explaining the function of Trust Center; explaining the Azure compliance documentation function; explain the function of Azure Sovereign Regions.
• Explaining core Azure identity services: this includes differentiating authorization and authentication; identifying Azure Active Directory; explaining the Azure Active Directory utilization; explaining the utilization of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Conditional Access, Single Sign-On (SSO).

Domains for Microsoft AZ-900 Exam

All in all, AZ-900 targets to equip you with the grasp of the following:

• Cost Management and SLA for Azure.
• Core Solutions and Tools for Azure Management;
• Core Azure Services;
• General Features for Security & Network Security;
• Identity, Compliance, Governance, and Privacy Features;
• Cloud Concepts;

The Microsoft AZ-900 domain covering Cloud Concepts, students begin by identifying the benefits in addition to considerations of utilizing cloud-based services. The concerned areas here include cloud computing benefits, capital expenditure, operational expenditure, and consumption model. Next is to explain how different the various cloud services categories are. Here, to consider is the model of shared responsibility, IaaS, PaaS, serverless computing, SaaS, and identifying a service type following a use scenario.

When considering the Core Azure Services topic, your abilities will be built around various aspects. The first one regards the core components of Azure architecture. This is possible when you learn the use and benefits of Regions & Region Pairs, availability of zones, resource groups, subscriptions, management groups, resource manager for Azure, and Azure resources. The next thing is about core resources as availed in Azure. Students will study the usage and benefits of virtual machines, Azure containers, Azure app instances, virtual networks, ExpressRoute, virtual network pairing, VPN gateway, disk storage, container storage, file storage, Cosmos DB, Azure SQL, and Azure Marketplace, among others.

For the AZ-900 section regarding General Features of Security and Network Security, there are two key areas. The first one concerns the security features of Azure, where students get to explore the Azure center basic features, Key Vault usage as well as functionality, Azure Sentinel usage and functionality, and the usage and functionality of Dedicated Hosts for Azure. The second part regards network security for Azure. Areas to focus here are such as defence concepts and usage & functionality of Network Security Groups, Azure Firewall, and protection for Azure DDoS.

When it comes to Identity, Compliance, Governance, and Privacy Features topic, there are three critical areas to cover. The first part encompasses identity services for Azure. Candidates must comprehend issues like authentication & authorization, Active Directory for Azure, conditional access, Single Sign-On (SSO), and multi-factor verification. The next one involves governance features for Azure. Here, learners explore the usage and functionalities of the following: RBAC, resource locks, tags, Azure policy, and Azure Blueprints. There is also the scrutiny of the framework for Azure adoption. The third aspect is on resources for compliance and privacy. Here, objectives considered are core tenets of Microsoft targeting privacy, compliance, and security, the privacy statement for Microsoft, OST, amendment of data protection, trust center, documentation for Azure compliance, and more.

The second last domain for AZ-900 exam concerns core solutions and tools for management. The core solutions include IoT Hub, Azure Sphere, IoT Central, Azure Databricks, Machine Learning, HDInsight, cognitive services, GitHub, Azure DevOps, and more. The Management tools to study include Azure Portal, Azure Advisor, Azure PowerShell, Azure CLI, and Azure Monitor.

Finally, applicants for AZ-900 exam must study the domain regarding cost management and SLA for Azure. The first step is to focus on cost planning and management methods, where the factors affecting costs and those that reduce them are covered. Considered as well are the usage and functions of Azure Cost Management. Also, the SLA (Service Level Agreements) is another vital part to learn about.

Reference: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/exam-az-900.aspx

Microsoft AZ-900 Exam Syllabus Topics: