AZ-900 vs AZ-103:
Which Azure Exam is Right for Me?
IT Professionals who are new to Azure are often confused when trying to determine which exam to pursue first. Is AZ-900 the right exam to pursue? How about AZ-103? In this post, I’ll try to help you decide which one is best for you.
AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
The AZ-900 exam is intended for those who are complete Azure novices. If you have little to no cloud or Azure experience and would like to demonstrate a foundational level knowledge of Azure and cloud technologies, the AZ-900 is the exam to pursue. The AZ-900 exam is non-technical. That being the case, it’s intended for candidates with non-technical backgrounds (salespeople, purchasers, etc.). It’s also a good option for technical people who are looking to get their feet wet with Azure and cloud.
Passing the AZ-900 exam is NOT a prerequisite for AZ-103. IT professionals sometimes mistakenly think that they must pass AZ-900 before attempting AZ-103. This is not necessary. That said, although technical IT experience isn’t required for the AZ-900 exam, it is somewhat helpful.
To pass the AZ-900 exam, you’ll need to demonstrate basic, non-technical knowledge of several concepts and services. You’ll need to understand terms like High Availability, Scalability, and Elasticity – among others. The AZ-900 will require you to understand the differences between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS models. You’ll also need to be able to describe the differences between public, private, and hybrid cloud models. There is actually quite a bit that you need to know for the AZ-900, but it’s mostly terminology and concepts – nothing real technical.
The complete list of AZ-900 exam objectives can be found here.
Preparing for the AZ-900 exam is not terribly difficult. There are many different AZ-900 courses available online that get the job done. I am, of course, partial to my own AZ-900 course, which is a 4-Hour exam prep course that also includes a 50-question practice exam.
AZ-103: Microsoft Azure Administrator
Passing the AZ-103 exam earns the student the Microsoft Azure Administrator certification/badge. This exam is intended for Azure Administrators. This includes people who will be managing cloud services like storage, networking, and compute. To pass the AZ-103 exam, you’ll need a deep understanding of key Azure offerings and services. You should also know how to use PowerShell, the Command Line Interface, Azure Portal, ARM templates, operating systems, virtualization, cloud infrastructure, storage structures, and networking.
While it’s not a terribly difficult exam when compared to the more advanced AZ-300 architecture exam, it can be challenging – especially if you haven’t had much stick time on Azure. Because the AZ-103 exam will require you to complete a few hands-on labs during the exam, it’s really important that you not only understand concepts, but that you can also put into practice your knowledge of such concepts.
Topics covered on the AZ-103 exam include things like subscription management, resource group management, and RBAC. You’ll also need to know how to Create and configure storage accounts, Import and export data to Azure, and manage Azure Backup. As far as virtual machines go, the AZ-103 exam will test your ability to create VMs, manage them, and automate deployment of them.
The AZ-103 exam will also hammer your knowledge of virtual networks. You’ll likely face a lab or two that asks you to not only create virtual networks, but you’ll also be expected to protect them with an NSG, connect them using a VPN, and configure custom DNS for them. These are the types of tasks that really require you to get some stick time in Azure.
Other topics covered by AZ-103 include management of Azure AD, multi-factor authentication, and more identity-related subjects. Again, you’ll be expected to not only understand these topics on a conceptual basis, but you’ll also be expected to understand how to work with them in practice.
The complete list of AZ-103 exam objectives can be found here.
The best way to prepare for the AZ-103 exam is to not only learn the concepts, but to also practice them. An AZ-103 course like this one should explain each of the exam objectives to you while actually demonstrating how to complete the many tasks that you will be expected to know how to perform.
The Verdict
So, which exam is right for you? Ultimately, this is an easy question to answer. If you are brand new to Azure, or even cloud in general, understanding the concepts covered in AZ-900 would be very beneficial before attempting any of the more technical exams. If you don’t understand the concepts covered on AZ-900, you won’t ever pass the AZ-103 exam.
IT professionals who are already familiar with the concepts covered by AZ-900 can skip right to the AZ-103 exam. While it never hurts to sit the AZ-900 just to reinforce your knowledge, experienced IT people may find it to be a waste of time. That said, people who sell Azure and cloud services are likely to find the AZ-900 to be very helpful, since it provides not only knowledge that’s useful to sell Azure, but also credibility.
Hopefully, this provides you with some guidance on which exam is right for you.