AZ-900 is the very first exam that you can take under Microsoft Azure certificates. I was looking for a small challenge that can bring accomplishment while gaining some knowledge, so I decided to give this exam a try.
In this article, I will give general information about the exam and how I prepared for it. If you already know about the details of this exam, and you want to know what resources can help you to pass it, you can skip the first part and read from the preparation section.
First of all, you need to know that this exam is not a prerequisite to other Microsoft exams, and it’s a very high-level view of Cloud services. Most of the knowledge you gain for this exam will be cross-platform. That means a high percentage of the knowledge will be useful in AWS or GCP. I just took this exam to make sure I know the fundamentals of Cloud technology, and I knew that would help me have a clear picture of how the exam works for other certificates.
Based on the Microsoft website you will be tested for the following topics
- Describe Cloud Concepts (15-20%)
- Describe Core Azure Services (30-35%)
- Describe Security, Privacy, Compliance, and Trust (25-30%)
- Describe Azure Pricing, Service Level Agreements, and Lifecycles (20-25%)
All of them are theoretical, and there is no lab work; all are test-like questions.
I should take the exam in person or online?
You will need to schedule your exam using the Pearson VUE, and they have both of those options. I took my exam in-person because you will need an office-like environment, and there is some prep work you need to do before the exam. Therefore, I decided to schedule one of their exam centers near where I live. It was a good and smooth experience. I will probably go with an in-person option for my next exams, also.
How much the AZ-900 exam costs?
For the USA based people, the exam will be $99. I took the exam in another country, and the price was completely different. So, I would check the price for where you want to take the exam if you care about the fee.
How was the exam process?
You will have 60 minutes for the whole exam and will have something between 40 to 60 questions. If you are prepared, it will take much less time. I got 50 questions for my exam, and it took me something about 30 minutes to finish it.
How I prepared for the exam
In general, it is an easy exam, and I don’t think someone who is already familiar with the technology and knows what Azure is would have a hard time for this exam.
There are three sources that I used for my preparation, but I will list one additional training sources plus the ones I studied, just in case you like the other one better.
1- AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Exam Prep (By Scott Duffy)
This is an excellent course that talks about all details you will need for the exam. It’s not a free course, but you can usually buy it cheaper with the sales Udemy usually has for all courses. I watched this course myself.
2- Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Certification Course (AZ-900) – Pass the exam in 3 hours!
This is a free Youtube course and covers some areas that I did not learn about in the other course, so I would recommend watching this one also. The vast amount of the content is the same, but I would prefer to watch both to have everything covered. So, I also watched this one.
3- Microsoft Azure Exam AZ-900 Certification (whizlabs.com)
I only purchased the Practice Tests from the packages Whizlabs.com has, and I practiced all the tests twice. I didn’t feel the need to watch another course, so I skipped the Online Course. I would highly recommend taking some practice tests before the exam because they will help you get familiar with the questions styles.
4- Azure fundamentals (microsoft.com)
Microsoft has a free tutorial that is comprehensive and designed for this exam. I did not take this course because I found the other sources fitting to my learning style better. I would recommend taking a look at this course; since it’s a free one and you might be comfortable with it.
Conclusion
Az-900 is an excellent exam to measure essentials about Cloud basics, and I would recommend this to every developer who is not familiar with how Azure and Cloud in general works. Some people learn faster than others, but you should be able to pass this exam by spending something about 2 hours per day for a week or so. Good luck with your exam, and don’t forget to share your experience with me.
