A Guide to Top Rated Microsoft Azure Credential

Introduction:

Microsoft Azure is one of the leading cloud computing platforms, holding 23% of the market share. There is a huge demand for skilled and certified professionals. Azure credentials validate your skills and expertise and help you justify your salary. Along with this, certified professionals earn 15–25% more than non-certified peers. Azure certifications are highly renowned all over the globe, and gaining them provides you with career flexibility. Furthermore, they ensure that you have completed Microsoft Azure Training and have the necessary skills to apply for job roles like hybrid cloud, AI, IoT, and edge computing roles. 

Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals:

This credential focuses on foundational cloud concepts, Azure services, and basic security and privacy principles. It is ideal for beginners, non-technical stakeholders, or professionals exploring cloud careers. It is necessary to pass the AZ-900 exam to gain this credential. It covers the following skills:

• Cloud computing basics (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS).
• Core Azure services (compute, storage, networking).
• Azure pricing, SLAs, and compliance.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate:

This credential focuses on managing the Azure resources, virtual networks, storage, and identity solutions. Azure Administrator Certification is an ideal credential for IT administrators and system operators. Gaining this credential requires you to clear the AZ-104 exam. Along with this, it covers the following skills: 

• Deploying VMs, configuring NSGs, and managing Azure AD.
• Monitoring resources with Azure Monitor.
• Implementing backup and disaster recovery.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate:

This credential focuses on building, testing, and maintaining cloud apps on Azure. It is ideal for developers with 1-2 years of coding experience. Getting this certification requires you to clear the AZ-204 exam. Here are the skills covered in this certification: 

• Developing Azure Functions, Logic Apps, and serverless solutions.
• Integrating apps with Azure Storage, Cosmos DB, and APIs.
• Implementing authentication (Azure AD, OAuth2).

Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert:

This credential is all about designing scalable, secure, and cost-effective cloud solutions. It’s ideal for experienced architects who already understand Azure administration or development. Azure Architect Certification requires you to learn the AZ-305 exam. Gaining this credential opens doors to cloud architect roles. The AZ-305 exam tests your ability regarding the following skills:

• Architected compute, storage, and networking strategies.
• Design resilient systems
• Optimize costs using Azure Cost Management.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate:

This Azure certification focuses on securing the Azure environments. It ensures that you have the skills necessary for job roles like security engineers and compliance specialists. Gaining this credential helps you land Cloud Security Engineer roles. It requires clearing the AZ-500 exam. The AZ-500 exam covers the following skill sets:

• Implementing Azure Security Center and Sentinel.
• Managing Key Vault, RBAC, and encryption.
• Detecting and responding to threats.

Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert:

This certification dives into CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code (IaC), and Agile practices. It’s ideal for DevOps engineers or release managers. It requires you to pass the AZ-400 exam. The AZ-400 exam focuses on:

• Automating deployments with Azure DevOps/GitHub Actions.
• Managing IaC using ARM templates or Terraform.
• Monitoring apps with application insights.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate:

This credential revolves around designing data solutions for ingestion, storage, and analytics. It’s ideal for data engineers or BI professionals. The DP-203 exam tests skills like:

• Building data lakes with Azure Data Lake Storage.
• Processing data using Databricks or Synapse Analytics.
• Implementing real-time streaming (Event Hubs, Stream Analytics).

Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate:

This MS Azure certification focuses on building AI solutions. It is great for AI/ML engineers and data scientists. The AI-102 exam covers the following skills: 

• Deploying vision, speech, and language models (Cognitive Services).
• Integrating Azure Machine Learning into apps.
• Monitoring AI model performance.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Network Engineer Associate:

This certification ensures that you know how to design and manage the Azure networks. This includes VPNs and load balancers. This is an ideal credential for network engineers. The AZ-700 exam tests skills like:

• Configuring Azure Virtual WAN and ExpressRoute.
• Securing networks with firewalls and NSGs.
• Hybrid connectivity

Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate:

This credential focuses on managing Azure databases such as SQL DB, Cosmos DB, and MySQL. It is an ideal credential for DBAs and data administrators. Gaining it requires you to clear the DP-300 exam. The DP-300 exam covers the following skills:

• Performance tuning, backup/restore, and migration.
• Securing databases with encryption and auditing.

Conclusion:

Microsoft Azure certifications offer a wide range of credentials that cater to various roles and expertise levels. These range from fundamentals to specialized skills like security, data engineering, and AI. By obtaining these certifications, professionals can validate their skills, enhance their career prospects, and increase their earning potential. With the growing demand for Azure professionals, these certifications provide a competitive edge in the job market. Thus opening doors to exciting career opportunities in cloud computing.