Azure Certifications Explained
By Karthick Selvam · Published
An overview of Microsoft Azure certifications.
Fundamentals
AZ-900 (Azure Fundamentals), plus fundamentals exams for data and AI.
Associate
AZ-104 (Administrator), AZ-204 (Developer), and data and AI associate exams; for data engineering, Microsoft now focuses on Fabric (DP-700).
Expert
AZ-305 (Solutions Architect Expert, which requires AZ-104) and AZ-400 (DevOps Engineer Expert).
Renewal
Role-based certifications are renewed annually through a free online assessment.
Check current exams
Microsoft retires and replaces exams regularly; confirm on Microsoft Learn.
Frequently asked questions
Which first?
AZ-900 for beginners, AZ-104 for administrators.
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