Are you wondering if it is time to showcase your distributed computing skills and earn cloud certifications? Many job descriptions now include cloud computing expertise. The number of cloud certifications and exams has increased dramatically over the past few years. Microsoft currently offers five Azure-specific exams, with many more on the horizon.
We can reduce the number of certification paths for those who want to learn Azure to three. After you have earned one of the prerequisite MCSA certs you can add “MCSE Cloud Platform and Infrastructure” (or any other IT credential) to your portfolio by passing one of three primary Azure exams. Which one is best for you?
This is where the confusion usually sets in. Prospective Azure pros will often start by looking at the list of qualifying exams.
Exam 70-532: Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions
Exam 70-533: Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions
Exam 70-534/535: Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions
Do you remember your elementary school synonym lessons. Although the names may sound similar, each test has its own focus and depth. We can identify which exam to study to help us choose the right test for our career path.
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Start trainingExam 70-532 Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions
The first exam, as its title suggests, is most programmer-centric. The Developing Microsoft Azure Solutions exam focuses on the.net SDK. This includes how to use.net in order to integrate Azure’s feature set into projects. The exam requires certified developers to be able to use the services they will be using, despite the emphasis being on code. There is an inherent overlap between the Azure exams. However, if you are a budding Azure developer, you don’t necessarily have to take all three exams.
You can expect to be asked detailed questions about Azure Resource Manager and Virtual Machines. This includes monitoring and scaling VMs. Developers and DB-Admins will also be interested in the exam’s focus on databases and storage strategy. The exam requires a high level proficiency in configuring and optimizing Azure SQL and Microsoft’s non-relational Cosmos DB.
Exam 70-533 Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions
“Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions” is the next exam. It skips the.net technicals and focuses on IT professionals’ skills. Although the 70-533 requirements may seem simpler than those in 70-532’s, closer inspection reveals that this exam focuses more on PowerShell and the AzureCLI for configuration and setup. As an extension of the skills acquired from 70-532, Azure-devs may be interested in this exam.
In keeping with the IT Pro theme, we will be covering infrastructure planning and security topics in detail. This section will be difficult if your Azure experience is limited to provisioning a few virtual machine. You should be able to use the App Service Environment to scale and secure apps. Particular emphasis will be placed on the configuration and security of hybrid and virtual networks.
It is possible that you have noticed the word “secure”, mentioned often in the objectives for 70-533. Security stormtroopers need to be aware that this is the Azure test you’re looking for! You will be tested on compliance issues, Key Vault, SSL and other security concepts. Regardless of whether your organization uses them, you will need to be up-to-speed on how to properly implement public ID authentication.
Exam 70-534/535 Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions
The “Architecting” exam is more focused on understanding Azure’s diverse capabilities.