Mastering Azure Fundamentals in just 20 hours (AZ-900 Exam)
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Hello, my name is Jerry, and I’m excited to tell you a bit more about my background. Although I’m a recent graduate, I already have over four years of experience in the cybersecurity industry. I achieved this by working and studying simultaneously, which allowed me to gain practical experience while pursuing my academic goals. Through this approach, I have developed expertise in offensive security and honed my skills. My passion for this rapidly evolving field has only grown stronger over time. Recently, I’ve challenged myself to dive into cloud security, recognizing the growing importance of this area as companies worldwide are migrating to the cloud. To begin my journey in cloud security, I decided to take the AZ-900 exam as a way to build my foundation for cloud computing.
AZ-900
AZ-900 is a fundamental level exam offered by Microsoft for individuals looking to gain an understanding of the basics of cloud computing and the core Azure services. The exam mainly covers three areas:
Describe cloud concepts (25–30%)
Describe Azure architecture and services (35–40%)
Describe Azure management and governance (30–35%)
To know more about AZ-900, visit the links below:
Side note: The exam has been updated on October 28, 2022. Hence, if you are searching for any reference online, make sure that the reference is based on the latest topics.
My approach to conquer AZ-900
I used a timebox approach by scheduling my exam date before I started studying. This forced me not to procrastinate or waste time. At the same time, I approached every challenge as if it were a battle and found inspiration in a quote by Sun Tzu: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” These words reminded me that by thoroughly understanding my opponents and my own capabilities, I could confidently tackle any obstacle that came my way.
Even though I had some knowledge of cloud computing, I started out by going through the course provided by Microsoft: AZ-900 Course by Microsoft. The whole course will take an estimated 5.4 hours (322 minutes), during which the course will provide all the knowledge needed for AZ-900.
After completing the course, I took the free practice exam to identify my weak areas and familiarize myself with the types of questions that would appear on the AZ-900 exam.
AZ-900 Practice Exam by Microsoft
Once I had identified my weak areas, I worked to improve them and went back to take the practice exam. I repeated this process until I could consistently achieve 100% on the practice exam.
After that, I moved on to the in-depth research phase, during which I started searching for notes and tips online. The following are some of the notes I found:
With the notes and tips, I compared them with my own personal notes to identify the differences and improve on my notes. Thereafter, I kept reading my notes and did the practice exam until the exam date.
Conclusion
I feel that obtaining fundamental certificates may not always be necessary in the certification journey, but it will enable you to showcase your fundamental knowledge and demonstrate that you have a strong foundation in your area of expertise to others.
Thus, obtaining the AZ-900 certificate would be an excellent way to begin your journey in cloud computing or cloud security.
