These days many businesses are taking advantage of the convenience offered by advanced cloud platforms. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform are some of the top cloud players who offer cloud services. Whether you want storage, hosting, compute, networking, or looking for advanced technology solutions like the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, big data analytics, or virtual reality, these cloud platforms offer cloud services for all of them.
If you are seeking an exciting career in the cloud space, then getting a Microsoft Azure certification can be a crucial first step. Microsoft Azure offers several valuable certifications that are helpful in benchmarking one’s cloud skills and knowledge of Azure services. For example, if someone is seeking a cloud solutions architect role, then he can get an Azure architect certification. However, if you are new to Azure and don’t know much about the top certifications it offers, then you should read this article.
We have mentioned some of the most in-demand Azure certifications of 2021 that should definitely be a part of your resume.
So, let’s dive in!
Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies
Exam AZ-303
This certification is ideal for professionals who know how to design and implement solutions running on the Azure platform, along with aspects like network, compute, security, and storage. Azure Solution Architects basically advise stakeholders and translate business requirements into scalable, reliable, and secure cloud solutions. The exam associated with this certification is Az-303, which tests your understanding of the following technical tasks:
- implement and monitor an Azure infrastructure
- implement management and security solutions
- implement solutions for apps
- implement and manage data platforms
One should be familiar with these topics when applying for this exam – identity, security, networking, budgeting, business continuity, disaster recovery, virtualization, and other IT operations.
Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals
Exam AZ-900
If you have the foundational knowledge of cloud services and how they are offered by Microsoft Azure, then this certification is for you. As the name suggests, people who are just beginning to work with cloud-based solutions and services or are new to the Azure platform should take this certification. It will demonstrate your understanding of cloud concepts, Azure workloads, Azure services, privacy and security in Azure, along with Azure pricing and support.
The associated exam for this certification is AZ-900 and it will measure your knowledge of the following:
- Cloud concepts
- Core Azure services
- Core solutions and management tools on Azure
- General security and network security features
- Identity, governance, privacy, and compliance features
- Azure cost management and service level agreements
Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
Exam AZ-104
An Azure administrator is someone who implements, manages, and monitors identity, governance, compute, storage, and virtual networks in a cloud environment. They are skilled in implementing, managing, and monitoring the Azure environment of an organization. So, if you want to achieve this certification, you need to be familiar with core Azure services, security, Azure workloads, using PowerShell, Azure portal, Azure CLI, and Azure Resource Manager templates.
The associated exam is AZ-104 and tests your capability in the following key areas:
- Implement and manage storage
- Manage Azure identities and governance
- Deploy and manage azure compute resources
- Monitor and back up Azure resources
- Configure and manage virtual networking
Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate
Exam AZ-500
An Azure Security engineer is a professional who manages the security posture of an organization and identifies and tackles vulnerabilities, performs threat analysis, implements threat protection, and responds to security incident escalations. If you are trying to achieve this certification, you need to gain expertise in implementing Azure security controls to protect access, identity, data, networks, and applications in the cloud and hybrid environments as part of an end-to-end infrastructure.
The associated exam for this certification is AZ-500 and here are the skills it will testify:
- Manage identity and access
- Implement platform protection
- Manage security operations
- Secure data and applications
Microsoft Certified: Azure IoT Developer Specialty
Exam AZ-220
If you want to learn how to deploy physical devices, use cloud services to configure and maintain those devices, and maintain and troubleshoot the configuration throughout the device lifecycle, then this certification is for you. Azure IoT Developers are primarily implement design specifications for IoT solutions, which include device connectivity, topology, security, diagnostics and monitoring. They develop and deploy modules and configure device networking for the Azure IoT Edge portion of the solution.
The associated exam for this Specialty certification is AZ-220. Here are the skills it measures:
- Set up the IoT solution infrastructure
- Implement IoT Edge
- Provision and manage devices
- Process and manage data
- Implement business integration
- Implement security
- Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize IoT solutions
Apart from the ones mentioned above, Azure hosts a number of other important certifications as well. Based on the job role you are interested in, you can select an appropriate Azure certification. Whether you want to learn Azure in general or want to prepare for any of these certifications, there are various online training programs to meet your learning goals and needs. So why not enroll in a reputed training program and build a strong foundation in Microsoft Azure!
