Azure Fundamentals, Start with the Basics.

Whether you have experience with Information Technology, or you do not, starting from the beginning can seem like a challenging thing to do for many reasons. Whatever the reason is, I'm here to tell you that the hardest step was already taken. Wait! What do you mean? By deciding to visit this article you've already demonstrated that you, at least a little, want to learn about Azure. Learning from the ground up is the best way to make sure you are prepared, that you have a firm grasp on the basics and that even at a high level you can speak to what Azure is.

"My company is adopting Azure, where should I begin?" or maybe it's " I've been a System Admin for the past (X) years, and I've not been advance my career, what's the best way to help me grow?" I've seen many statements like this and others about people who are new to what Azure is, or maybe they have seen it but not really explored it because their job didn't warrant it. Ultimately, the path towards your goal (which I am hoping is something within cloud), whether it is DevOps, Architect, Administrator, Security, Data Engineering, AI, or Modern Workplace; the road to becoming that highly skilled person begins with learning the fundamentals.

To begin with, Microsoft has laid out its requirements for obtaining the Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals certification. You must take and pass the AZ-900 exam (all the Azure exams begin with AZ/DP/AI), which consists roughly of 40-50 questions that are either single answer, multi-answer or drag and drop. The exam is broken up into 4 Sections: Describe Cloud Concepts; Describe Core Azure Services; Describe Security, Privacy, Compliance, and Trust; Describe Azure Pricing, Service Level Agreements, and Lifecycles. Each of these sections have sub sections that articulate what knowledge you need to have understanding in to ensure that you can successfully pass the exam.

Now when it comes to studying for the exam, there are a multitude of options available to you. If you or your company has a subscription to say A Cloud Guru, Linux Academy, Pluralsight, or Skylines Academy; you can certainly leverage one of the AZ-900 courses on that particular platform taught by trainers who are seasoned Azure pro's, and they typically have additional features i.e. knowledge checks, quizzes, etc. Now, if things are difficult for you or you simply do not have money to burn right now, don't worry... Microsoft has made training for this exam at no cost to you.

You can find the free learning resources here:

These 4 Learning paths contain multiple learning modules, each designed to cover the various exam objectives that are laid out in the AZ-900 exam guide that can be found here:

I hope this helps you get started on your Azure cloud journey. Regardless of the path you ultimately decide to go with, having these foundational skills will truly be valuable to you. And I am here to help you build your path to success.