Category: Certification

Jan102019January 10, 2019July 24, 20195Commentsby Thomas Maurer
Azure Solutions Architect Expert

Passed Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert

Posted in Certification, Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Work

Today I am on my way to Geneva for a customer meeting. Before I left, I quickly checked my email and had some exciting news in my inbox. I got the confirmation that I passed the Microsoft Exam AZ-302 Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Certification Transition, which together with my previous exam, 70-535 Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions, gives me the certification as Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert.

Earning the Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification demonstrates skills and knowledge to advise stakeholders and translate business requirements into secure, scalable, and reliable solutions. Candidates have advanced experience and knowledge across various aspects of IT operations, including networking, virtualization, identity, security, business continuity, disaster recovery, data management, budgeting, and governance – managing how decisions in each area affects an overall solution.

I took this exam as a beat exam back in September at Microsoft Ignite 2018. For people who do not have already done 70-535, you will need to take AZ-300 and AZ-301 to get the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect certification. The AZ-Series are the new edition of the Microsoft Azure Certification path. These exams were announced at Microsofts Partner conference, Microsoft Inspire in 2018.

There is a great blog post by Chris Pietschmann, about the state of the current Microsoft Experts exams.

I am happy about getting the confirmation about my second successful Microsoft Azure exam this year, after passing AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals last week.

If you want to know more about the exam and the skills measured in this exam, check out the official Microsoft Exam page for AZ-302. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments.

Congrats to all the others which got the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification today. Otherwise, I wish you good luck taking the exam, let me know how it was in the comments.


Jan022019January 2, 2019July 24, 201913Commentsby Thomas Maurer
AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

Passed Exam AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

Posted in Certification, Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Work

I just took a little bit of my time to do one of the latest Azure exams. The Azure exam AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals is, as the name suggests, a basic fundamental exam covering some general knowledge about Microsoft Azure. The exam covers a basic understanding of cloud concepts, core Azure services, security, privacy, compliance, and trust, as well as Azure Pricing and support.

AZ-900 is a good exam if you are starting with Azure and the cloud. It is not just a marketing and sales exam; even do it is a very light exam. You will need to have some technical know-how. If you are planning to take this exam I have some recommendations for you. Understand the benefits of cloud computing and the different cloud models. Go through the list of Azure services, make sure you know what services are available and for what you would use them. Also make sure that you understand the concepts of Azure in general and in Azure governance, like Subscriptions, Management Groups, Azure Policies, Azure Resource Groups, Role-Based Access Control, and many more.

You can find more detailed information on the Microsoft exam website. There you will find all the skills measured in this exam.

Microsoft Learn

I also highly recommend that you make an Azure free (or paid) account and try out different Azure services. But if you want to get ready for the cloud and especially for Microsoft Azure, and exam AZ-900, check out Microsoft Learn. Microsoft Learn is a great free learning platform, where you have free guides, walkthroughs, and hands-on experience. Microsoft Learn also provides you some more advanced training and guides, to get some more in-depth understandings of Microsoft services.

With that, I wish you happy learning and good luck with the AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam!


Oct042018October 4, 2018April 30, 20190Commentby Thomas Maurer
Microsoft Learn

Microsoft Learn – A Great Place To Learn!

Posted in Certification, Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, PowerShell, Work

In a world with always evolving and fast changing technology, it can be hard to keep up with the latest innovation. However, in our just we need to keep learning and be more efficient. It can be difficult to find the right resources and the right content. This is why Microsoft launched Microsoft Learn, a new platform to learn technology and keep up with the fast pace of our industry.

Microsoft Learn

Microsoft recently switch the certification programs for Azure to role-based certifications, for example Azure Administrators, Azure Developers and Azure Architects. The new Microsoft Learn platform also gives you a training and modules based on your role selection.

Microsoft Learn Guide

Microsoft Learn Guide

The platform has a guided experience, explaining you the technology with text, videos, control questions, but also with hands-on training using sandboxes in Azure for free.

Microsoft Learn Sandbox and Hands-on

Microsoft Learn Sandbox

You cannot only read and watch videos, you also have a hands-on expierence. You can get a sandbox environment to live try code or even the portal experience to work with Azure or other Microsoft technology. In this example, I have the Microsoft Learn Guide on one site and Azure Cloud Shell on the other. I don’t even need to jump out of the learning experience, I just simply can try out the code.

Get started with Microsoft Learn

The Microsoft Learning platform is much more than I just explained. And Microsoft is working hard on adding even more content for more products and services to the page. If you want to get startet with Azure Certifications or just Azure in general, Microsoft Learn is the place to be!

And the best thing, it is free. You get amazing content guide and explained with labs to even try it out by yourself. The only thing you need is time and the willingness to learn. To try it out, just visit the Microsoft Learn homepage and let me know what you think!


Oct042018October 4, 2018July 26, 20193Commentsby Thomas Maurer
Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate

Passed AZ-103 Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator

Posted in Certification, Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, PowerShell, Work

After the announcement of the new Microsoft Azure certifications at Microsoft Inspire in Las Vegas, I decided to take the beta exam, which was available to upgrade my current Azure certifications. Since I had already passed Exam 70-533 Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions, I needed exam AZ-102 to do the transition. Today I got confirmation that I passed the Microsoft exam AZ-102 and earned the Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate certification. Since that time, Microsoft changed the exams, and you will now need to take exam AZ-103 to get the Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator certification. The overall content and exam subjects are still the same, but instead of taking two exams, AZ-100 and AZ-101, you only need to take AZ-103.

I already took the new available beta Exam for the Microsoft Certified Azure Architect at Microsoft Ignite; however, for the results, I still need to wait a bit.

What is Exam AZ-103 Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate

The new certifications are based on different job roles, like Azure Administrator, Azure Developer, and Azure Architect. You can read more about the new Azure Certifications here on my blog.

Earning Azure Administrator Associate certification demonstrates understanding of services across the IT lifecycle, and ability to take requests for infrastructure services, applications, and environments. Candidates for this certification are typically Azure Administrators who manage cloud services spanning storage, security, networking, and compute cloud capabilities. They recommend services to use for optimal performance and scale, as well as provision, size, monitor, and adjust resources.

This is excellent news to start in the day while I am flying to a customer in Paris today for some more Azure work.

Exam Preparation

The skills measured in AZ-103 are a mix of the former AZ-100 and AZ-101 and will focus on Azure Infrastructure and deployment, Azure Integration, and Azure Security. If you are just getting started with Microsoft Azure, I recommend that you take first the exam AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals. This is not a required exam, but it is a great way to validate your knowledge. However, if you feel comfortable you can also directly start with the Azure Administrator Associate exam. To prepare for the Azure Fundamentals exam, check out the following Microsoft Learn module.

I often get asked how I prepared for exams such as this. It makes sense to certify the knowledge you already have. I usually use Microsoft free online courses on Channel 9, Virtual Academy and now the new Microsoft Learn. However, I realized that also the Azure Documentation is a great resource to learn. I recommend you check the skills needed for the exam, in this case, AZ-103 and read the specific Azure Documentation for these topics, and also try it out. The best training and learning experience you always get by trying things out. You will not just learn the specific subject you are looking on, but you will also learn a lot about other related topics.

AZ-103 Microsoft Learn Certified Azure Administrator

Microsoft Learn Azure Administrator

Microsoft Learn gives you the chance to filter the modules by related topics and is one of the best, if not the best starting point for the AZ-103: Microsoft Azure Administrator exam.

I hope this helps you to prepare and study for the AZ-103 exam and if you have any questions, please let me know in the comments.


Jul172018July 17, 2018July 29, 20191Commentby Thomas Maurer
Microsoft Azure Certifications

New Microsoft Azure Certifications announced

Posted in Certification, Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Work

This week Microsoft Inspire takes place in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it this year. However, some of my colleagues from itnetX Switzerland and itnetX are there, don’t miss them and visit our booth! During the first day keynote at Microsoft Inspire, Microsoft quickly announced three new Azure Certifications for Administrators, Developers, and Architects. You can already take the beta exams for the Azure Certified Administrator with more information on the Microsoft Learning Blog.

New Microsoft Azure Certifications

The three new Microsoft Azure Certifications are:

  • Microsoft Certified Azure Developer
  • Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator
  • Microsoft Certified Azure Architect
Read More

Jul012018July 1, 2018August 14, 20180Commentby Thomas Maurer
Microsoft MVP Award 2018

Microsoft MVP 2018-2019 Cloud and Datacenter Management

Posted in Award, Certification, Cloud, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Microsoft MVP, Private Cloud, System Center, Virtualization, Windows, Windows Server, Work

I am proud to announce that I was awarded today by Microsoft, with the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award for 2018-2019 in two major categories Cloud and Datacenter Management and Microsoft Azure. This is my 7th Microsoft MVP award since 2012, and I couldn’t be more excited about this one.

Dear

Thomas Maurer,

We’re once again pleased to present you with the 2018-2019 Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award in recognition of your exceptional technical community leadership. We appreciate your outstanding contributions in the following technical communities during the past year:

 

·   Cloud and Datacenter Management

The Microsoft MVP award title is a huge honor and it stand for the contributions I have been doing in the IT community as an Microsoft expert for the past years. The Microsoft MVP award also comes with some benefits, like a NDA and access to the Microsoft Product Groups, as well as the yearly Microsoft MVP Global Summit on the Microsoft Campus in Redmond. But one of the biggest benefit overall is that it gives you the opportunity to speak at different conferences all over the world. This and having the chance to speak with people from all over the world, which share the same passion is priceless.

Who are MVPs?

Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals, or MVPs, are technology experts who passionately share their knowledge with the community. They are always on the “bleeding edge” and have an unstoppable urge to get their hands on new, exciting technologies. They have very deep knowledge of Microsoft products and services, while also being able to bring together diverse platforms, products and solutions, to solve real world problems. MVPs make up a global community of over 4,000 technical experts and community leaders across 90 countries and are driven by their passion, community spirit, and quest for knowledge. Above all and in addition to their amazing technical abilities, MVPs are always willing to help others – that’s what sets them apart.

 

Source https://mvp.microsoft.com/en-us/Overview

I need to thank many people which are helping me to achieve this and making the most out of it. I would like to thank my employer itnetX which is supporting me in the best possible way all these years, my current and former colleagues from which I can learn a lot, the Microsoft MVP community and of course Microsoft employees in Redmond and all over the world, to work with us and collect feedback. Last but definitely not least, I have to thank my girlfriend, which not only helps me out with many things, but also needs to be patient, with my extra work so many times. She is also one of my biggest and also most critical supporters. She helps me to understand things better, promote my activities better, fixing my blog post ;) and makes all the traveling more joyful.

If you want to know more about the Microsoft MVP Program, check out the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional website.


May312018May 31, 2018August 20, 20184Commentsby Thomas Maurer
Configuring and Operating a Hybrid Cloud with Microsoft Azure Stack

Passed 70-537 Configuring and Operating a Hybrid Cloud with Azure Stack Exam

Posted in Certification, Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Work

Back in February Microsoft released the Azure Stack beta exam, 70-537 Configuring and Operating a Hybrid Cloud with Azure Stack Exam. As always I try to take the exam early as they are available and today I finally got the results that I passed exam 70-537.

Passing Exam 537: Configuring and Operating a Hybrid Cloud with Microsoft Azure Stack validates the skills and knowledge necessary to plan, deploy, package, update, and maintain the Azure Stack infrastructure. Candidates also demonstrate the ability to offer hybrid cloud resources and requested services, and to manage IaaS and PaaS.

This exam measures the following skills:

  • Deploying and Integrating an Azure Stack Environment
  • Configuring PaaS and IaaS for Azure Stack Environment
  • Providing Services to enabling DevOps for Azure Stack Tenants
  • Maintaining and Monitoring an Azure Stack Environment

This week I finally got the message that I passed the Beta exam. If you want to take that exam you should really be familiar with the products and solutions mentioned above, otherwise you will have a hard time passing the exam. There are both questions about Azure Stack ASDK as well as the multi node system, so I would recommend that you get some hands on experience with a multi node system as well.

If you want to know more about the exam, check out this link: Microsoft 70-537 Configuring and Operating a Hybrid Cloud with Azure Stack Exam

A lot of people are asking me for training resources. First of all it definitely helps if you have some hands-on experience with mutli-node systems but also with the ASDK. However it is almost impossible to cover all the topics by yourself, there for I recommend that you have a look at a free Microsoft online training. I think the best course I found is on the Microsoft Open EDX platform. There you can find the course Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Stack.



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    Thomas Maurer

    My name is Thomas Maurer. I am a Senior Cloud Advocate at Microsoft. I am part of the Azure engineering team (Cloud + AI) and engage with the community and customers around the world. I am located in Switzerland. I am focusing on Microsoft technologies, especially cloud and datacenter solutions based on Microsoft Azure, Azure Stack and Windows Server. Opinions are my own.

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