Microsoft Azure Certifications: Selecting the right one !!

There are a lot of Azure certifications and selecting the right one is often tricky.

This article is more inclined towards understanding data platform certifications.

Coming straight to the point:

1. To get certifications you have to clear examinations. These certifications may need one or more examinations to be cleared.
2. There are no prerequisite to any examination, you can attempt any in any order. Example: for Azure data engineer certification you need to write DP-200 & DP-201 examination. You can give them in any order.
3. Passing marks are 700/1000 in all examinations.
4. I have study guides on most Azure certifications, please check my publication for specific details.

It is the knowledge attained in the process of preparing for a certifications that helps in the end. Its all about the journey :)

Selecting the right one:

Lets talk about each certification & required examination to get it:

Tried to put all !!

1) Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)

To get this certification you need to know basics of cloud & overview of Azure services. This certification is very basic & will not add significant weight in your resume. Go for AZ-103 or AZ-203 instead.

When to target:

1. You are new to any cloud like Azure, AWS, GCP or Alibaba.
2. Have non-technical/IT background.
3. Just want overview of Azure services & cloud fundamentals.

2) Azure Data Engineer

You need to clear DP-200 & DP-201 examination to get this certification. In case you are looking to make a career in Data engineering on Azure then go for it, both examinations are pretty tough.

When to target:

1. Want to make a career in data engineering.
2. Want knowledge of stream/batch analytics, ETL, databases, warehousing etc. (check my articles on DP-200/201)
3. Want to learn Azure data solutions.

3) Azure AI Engineer:

You need to clear AI-100 examination to get this certification. Having the word AI in resume increases its weight these days:)

When to target:

1. Want to make career in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning.

4) Azure Data Scientist

You need to clear DP-100 examination to get this certification. In case you are looking to make a career in data science then go for both AI-100 & DP-100. These certifications will add significant weight in your resume.

When to target:

1. Want to make career in Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning or Data Science.

5) Azure Administrator

You need to clear AZ-103 examination to get this certification. This certification will make you eligible for Azure administration roles.

I recommend AZ-103 to be the stepping stone you are looking for getting in Azure world.

When to target:

1. Want to stay relevant in cloud world.
2. Have previously worked on server platform in Microsoft/VMWare environment.
3. Have background in administration, networking, backup solutions or others.

6) Azure Developer Associate

You need to clear AZ-203 examination to get this certification. This certification will make you eligible for Azure development job roles.

For developers, I recommend AZ-203 as their stepping stone in Azure world.

When to target:

1. If developing solutions for Azure cloud.

7) Azure Security Engineer

You need to clear AZ-500 examination to get this certification. Security job roles are as important as any other in the cloud. I recommend every one should have understanding of Azure security solutions to use them while developing or architecting.

When to target:

1. If you are responsible for making Azure solutions secure.
2. If you are an administrator, developer or architect.

8) Azure DevOps Engineer

This is an expert level certification, you need to clear AZ-400 & AZ-103 or AZ-203 (either) to get it. DevOps job openings are all around us. It is very popular and will stay hot for next 5–6 years. Until all companies finish establishing devops pipelines or more devops engineers are available in the market ;-)

When to target:

1. If you are responsible for making Azure devops pipelines.
2. Have background in development & want to understand devops practices.

9) Azure Solution Architect

You need to clear AZ-300 & AZ-301 examination to get this certification. This certification will add weight in your resume & career.

When to target:

1. Want to architect solutions in the world of Azure.

If you need further help or have a question then write in the comments below or find me on LinkedIn. Thanks !!