Do you know the relevant Azure certifications and associated exams?

Whether you're an expert or just getting started, working towards gaining a new certification is a worthwhile investment.

Microsoft provides numerous certifications and training options to help you:

• Learn new skills
• Fill technical knowledge gaps
• Boost your productivity
• Prove your competence

---

Fundamentals

If you're just getting started, take a look at:

Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals

Earn this certification to prove you have a foundational knowledge of cloud services and how those services are provided with Microsoft Azure.

You will need to pass Exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals

Earn this certification to prove you have foundational knowledge of core data concepts and how they are implemented using Microsoft Azure data services.

You will need to pass: Exam DP-900: Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals.

---

Associate

Once you've mastered the fundamentals, developers should move on to:

Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate

Earn this certification to prove your subject matter expertise in designing, building, testing, and maintaining cloud applications and services on Microsoft Azure.

You will need to pass: Exam AZ-204: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate

Earn this certification to prove you have subject matter expertise integrating, transforming, and consolidating data from various structured and unstructured data systems into structures that are suitable for building analytics solutions.

You will need to pass: Exam DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate

Earn this certification to prove your subject matter expertise implementing security controls and threat protection, managing identity and access, and protecting data, applications, and networks in cloud and hybrid environments as part of an end-to-end infrastructure.

You will need to pass: Exam AZ-500: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Scientist Associate

Earn this certification to prove you have subject matter expertise applying data science and machine learning to implement and run machine learning workloads on Azure.

You will need to pass: Exam DP-100: Designing and Implementing a Data Science Solution on Azure.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate

Earn this certification to prove you understand how to implement, manage and monitor an organization's Azure environment.

You will need to pass: Exam AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator.

---

Specialty

Cosmos is becoming a very popular database solution. Learn more by completing:

Microsoft Certified: Azure Cosmos DB Developer Specialty

Earn this certification to prove that you have strong knowledge of the intricacies of Azure Cosmos DB.

You will need to pass: Exam DP-420: Designing and Implementing Cloud-Native Applications Using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

---

Expert

Eventually, all rock star developers and solution architects should set their sights on:

Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert

Earn this certification to prove your subject matter expertise in designing and implementing solutions that run on Microsoft Azure, including aspects like compute, network, storage, and security. Candidates should have intermediate-level skills for administering Azure. Candidates should understand Azure development and DevOps processes.

You will need to pass: Exam AZ-303: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies and Exam AZ-304: Microsoft Azure Architect Design.

---

Now that you can build awesome cloud applications, you might want to Deploy your applications to Microsoft Azure:

Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert

Earn this certification to prove your subject matter expertise working with people, processes, and technologies to continuously deliver business value.

You will need to pass: Exam AZ-400: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions.

---

Check the Become Microsoft Certified poster for details of exams required for each of the certifications.

Preparing for exams can involve a lot of work, and in some cases stress and anxiety. But remember, you're not in school anymore! You've chosen to take this exam, and no one is forcing you. So just sit back and enjoy the journey - you should feel excited by the new skills you will soon learn. If you want some great advice and tips, be sure to check out Successfully Passing Microsoft Exams by @JasonTaylorDev.

Good luck!