How to Pass Azure Fundamentals Certification Exam (AZ-900)?

If you have heard of cloud services, you might be familiar with Microsoft Azure. It is a cloud-based service provider with dedicated computing, storage, security and artificial intelligence services. These services made it extremely popular with enterprises. According to Statista, up to 56% of global cloud users chose Azure over other services. These vast number of services and their rising demand in the industry resulted in creating new roles specialised in working with Azure services.   

These roles demand certification by Microsoft, which can be gained by passing an exam proving your excellence in using Azure-based services. One of many such certifications is AZ 900, also known as the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam.   

AZ-900 is considered a starting point in the Azure Certification journey; despite being an optional certification, it's strongly recommended before taking any other certification. Read this blog to know, How to Pass the (AZ-900) Microsoft Azure Fundamental Exam in 2023.    

Table of contents

1) What is Azure? 

2) What are Azure certifications exams? 

3) Preparing for the AZ-900 exam 

   a) What are the prerequisites? 

   b) Syllabus and weightage 

   c) Details of examination 

4) Scope and benefits of AZ-900 

5) Conclusions 

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What is Azure? 

Have you ever failed to process a large amount of data? You could not do so due to a lack of resources like RAM, ROM, or CPU capabilities. Azure enables you to perform these tasks by using resources and services like cloud-based computation, storage and even machine learning that were not locally available to you once.   

Due to the variety of services provided by Azure, an equally diverse opening of job roles specialised in working with its cloud-based services were made, such as Azure Architect, Azure Administrator and Microsoft Azure DevOps.  

Many more Azure-based jobs enable you to build a career specialising in its services. A common factor in all these fascinating job roles is its demand for certification, with specialisation in that particular job and the necessary set of skills.

What are Azure certifications exams?  
 

Azure certifications are qualification exams divided into beginner, associate, expert and specialised levels. Passing these specialised role-based exams results in validation by Microsoft, proving your capabilities in that particular role and its services. This certification proves your skill and excellence, making it highly sought after by enterprises that use Azure cloud services.   

However, Microsoft holds stringent prerequisites to attend these exams, dividing them based on levels, thus creating Azure certification paths. These paths denote the step-by-step process and order you need to take a series of exams to achieve the final certification enabling you to work as an Azure specialist.   

AZ 900, also known as the Microsoft Azure Fundamental Exam, is one of the most frequently taken Microsoft certifications. It is considered a starting point for any Azure certification path, despite not being mandatory to take more advanced exams. 

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What is AZ-900 exam?  

AZ 900 is the most fundamental, all-purpose, beginner-level examination in all Microsoft certifications. Passing this exam is important to understand the basics before moving to more advanced ones. Microsoft Azure Fundamental is a relatively easy certification for candidates with a non-technical background, warming them up for the less forgiving intermediate and expert certification.

Preparing for AZ-900 exam  

It’s essential to understand AZ 900 exam before you decide to approach it. Here are some general guidelines on How to Pass Azure Fundamentals Exam. 

What are the prerequisites?  

There are no prerequisites for a beginner-level exam like AZ-900, making it an excellent choice for novices. However, it is strongly suggested that you have a certain level of understanding of Azure services, be it of any role that works with these services. This experience can become a foundation for the knowledge base necessary to pass the exam. 

Syllabus and weightage  

The AZ-900 exam’s syllabus consists of the following topics: 

1) Cloud concepts account for 15% to 20% of the syllabus. These include differentiating between services, such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS), and a general understanding of public, private and hybrid cloud models. 

2) Describing core Azure services account for 30 to 35% of the syllabus. These include core products, solutions and architectural components. These also include questions regarding the usage of management tools. 

3) Privacy, security, compliance and trust comprise up to 25% to 30% of the syllabus. These include knowledge of identity services, governance methodology and network connectivity. It also includes monitoring, reporting and data protection. 

4) Understanding Azure pricing and support accounts for 20% to 25% of the syllabus. These include understanding the lifecycle of its services, their subscriptions and cost management. 

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Details of the AZ-900 examination  

Microsoft Azure Fundamental is a relatively simple exam that lasts about 60 minutes. It has 40 to 60 questions, some being Multiple-Choice-Questions (MCQ) and the rest being descriptive, graphical answers, drag and drop (moving the correct response to the allotted section) and case studies. This exam allows you to navigate through the questions allowing you to choose the order in which you answer them.   

Outside the actual examination, the pre-exam setup takes about 30 minutes, including providing your identity proof and checking your surroundings, with an additional 15 minutes long survey. Once it's done, you are required to give feedback which takes 15 more minutes in the end. 

AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals passing score: Once you are done with the feedback, if you got a minimum score of 700 or higher, you’ll get a passing grade. Although the score is available almost instantly, the test report takes some time to update, generally a few days.    

If you fail to achieve a score of 700 and fail the exam for the first time, you can retake it after 24 hours. However, if you fail twice in a row, you will have to wait for 14 days before retaking the exam.    

Az-900 exam’s cost: It is about £69, with added taxes which makes it £ 82 in total. 

Exam Cancellation Charges: The cancellation charges for AZ 900 depend upon the duration between cancellation and the scheduled exam date. They are as follows: 
 

Scope and benefits of AZ-900

Passing AZ 900 helps you feel more prepared for advanced certification exams, serving as prep work in your certification path. Although AZ 900 isn’t a prerequisite for any other certification, it’s an excellent introductory certification for non-technical candidates. It is also a great start for candidates who wish to have general knowledge of Azure services, helping you make an informed choice for your future role and certification. It makes passing AZ 900 a vital part of every Microsoft Azure Certification Path. 

Conclusion 

Cloud is an ever-growing technology, and Azure is currently the most dominant cloud-based service. This makes its certifications highly desirable by enterprises, and AZ-900 is a great starting point for any certification path. Taking an exam for the first time can make you anxious, but this blog will help you be more prepared for the Microsoft Azure Fundamental examination. 

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