Power Platform
The certification confirms that the candidate knows the computing process, storage, security, and networking services offered by Microsoft Azure.
Cloud computing is one of the fastest-growing technology in this modern era. Becoming a Microsoft certified professional is the most demanding certification path in the cloud market.
Microsoft Power Platform is a suite of applications that empowers users to automate, analyze, and build solutions with low-code. Let’s explore the key components of the Power Platform:
Microsoft Power BI:
- Power BI is a powerful business intelligence tool that allows you to visualize and analyze data from various sources.
- Create interactive reports, dashboards, and data visualizations to gain insights into your organization’s performance and make informed decisions.
Microsoft Power Apps:
- Power Apps enables you to create custom apps without extensive coding knowledge.
- Build apps for specific business processes, such as inventory management, expense tracking, or customer relationship management (CRM).
- The low-code approach makes it accessible to a wide range of users, allowing them to turn their ideas into practical solutions.
Microsoft Power Automate:
- Power Automate (formerly known as Flow) lets you automate workflows across different applications and services.
- Connect apps, trigger actions based on events, and streamline repetitive tasks.
- For example, you can automatically send an email notification when a new item is added to a SharePoint list or create a task in Microsoft Planner when an email arrives in your inbox.
Microsoft Power Pages:
- Power Pages is a relatively new addition to the Power Platform.
- It allows you to design websites and web-based solutions using a low-code approach.
- Whether you need to create an internal portal, a customer-facing site, or an employee self-service platform, Power Pages simplifies the process1.
As a candidate for this certification, you aspire to understand how Microsoft Power Platform technologies can be used to:
- Improve processes.
- Help drive business outcomes.
The certification is intended for you if you’re seeking to start your journey building solutions with Microsoft Power Platform.
You can use this certification to prepare for role-based or specialty certifications, but it’s not a prerequisite for any of them.
Skills measured
- Describe the business value of Microsoft Power Platform
- Identify foundational components of Microsoft Power Platform
- Demonstrate the capabilities of Power BI
- Demonstrate the capabilities of Power Apps
- Demonstrate the capabilities of Power Automate
- Demonstrate complementary Microsoft Power Platform solutions
What is Power BI?
Power BI is a collection of software services, apps, and connectors that work together to turn your unrelated sources of data into coherent, visually immersive, and interactive insights. Your data might be an Excel spreadsheet, or a collection of cloud-based and on-premises hybrid data warehouses. Power BI lets you easily connect to your data sources, visualize and discover what’s important, and share that with anyone or everyone you want.
The parts of Power BI
Power BI consists of several elements that all work together, starting with these three basics:
- A Windows desktop application called Power BI Desktop.
- An online software as a service (SaaS) service called the Power BI service.
- Power BI Mobile apps for Windows, iOS, and Android devices.
These three elements—Power BI Desktop, the service, and the mobile apps—are designed to let you create, share, and consume business insights in the way that serves you and your role most effectively.
Beyond those three, Power BI also features two other elements:
- Power BI Report Builder, for creating paginated reports to share in the Power BI service. Read more about paginated reports later in this article.
- Power BI Report Server, an on-premises report server where you can publish your Power BI reports, after creating them in Power BI Desktop. Read more about Power BI Report Server later in this article.
How Power BI matches your role
How you use Power BI depends on your role in a project or on a team. Other people, in other roles, might use Power BI differently.
For example, you might primarily use the Power BI service to view reports and dashboards. Your number-crunching, business-report-creating coworker might make extensive use of Power BI Desktop or Power BI Report Builder to create reports, then publish those reports to the Power BI service, where you view them. Another coworker, in sales, might mainly use the Power BI Mobile app to monitor progress on sales quotas, and to drill into new sales lead details.
If you’re a developer, you might use Power BI APIs to push data into semantic models or to embed dashboards and reports into your own custom applications. Have an idea for a new visual? Build it yourself and share it with others.
You also might use each element of Power BI at different times, depending on what you’re trying to achieve or your role for a given project.
How you use Power BI can be based on which feature or service of Power BI is the best tool for your situation. For example, you can use Power BI Desktop to create reports for your own team about customer engagement statistics and you can view inventory and manufacturing progress in a real-time dashboard in the Power BI service. You can create a paginated report of mailable invoices, based on a Power BI semantic model. Each part of Power BI is available to you, which is why it’s so flexible and compelling.
Explore documents that pertain to your role:
- Power BI for business users
- Power BI Desktop for report creators
- Power BI Report Builder for enterprise report creators
- Power BI for administrators
- Power BI for developers
Overview
As a candidate for this certification, you automate Windows-based, browser-based, and terminal-based applications that are time-consuming or contain repetitive processes. You use a mix of approaches like:
- UI
- API
- Database automations
You analyze and design processes for automation and implement automations using Power Automate for desktop and Power Automate cloud flows. As a robotic process automation (RPA) developer, you use actions for logic and to work with:
- Data
- Applications
- Services
You work with business stakeholders to optimize business workflows. You partner with administrators to deploy solutions to other environments and support solutions.
Additionally, as a candidate, you should have experience with:
- The Windows desktop environment
- Scripting languages
- Power Automate cloud and desktop flows
- AI Builder
- Process Advisor
- Microsoft Dataverse
Skills measured
- Design automations
- Develop automations
- Deploy and manage automations
The Microsoft Certified Azure AI Engineer Associate certification is the latest addition in the role-based Azure certifications path. The rising popularity of AI and machine learning is one of the prominent reasons for the emerging need for skilled AI professionals. The certification is suitable for IT professionals aspiring for the role of Azure AI Engineers. The responsibilities of an Azure AI Engineer would include analysis of the requirements of AI solutions alongside recommending proper tools and technologies.
In addition, they should also implement solutions that address the prerequisites of performance and scalability. The primary role of an Azure AI Engineer is the translation of the vision of solution architects for the development of end-to-end solutions. In the course of this process, the Azure AI Engineer should also work in collaboration with data engineers, AI developers, data scientists, and IoT specialists.
The Azure AI Engineer Associate certification in the new Azure certifications path also evaluates the abilities of candidates for designing and implementing AI apps and agents. The certification exam tests the fluency of candidates in the use of Azure Bot Service and Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services. Another prominent exam topic refers to the components in the Azure AI portfolio alongside the available data storage options.
Candidates aspiring for the role of Azure AI engineer would have to qualify one Azure certification exam. The title of the exam is “Designing and Implementing an Azure AI Solution.” The code for the exam is AI 100. Let us find out some additional details about the exam as follows.
Preparing for AI-100: Designing and Implementing an Azure AI Solution exam? Follow this comprehensive guide for the AI-100 EXAM PREPARATION and get ready to pass the exam.
AI-100: Designing and Implementing an Azure AI Solution
The AI-100 exam in the Azure certification path is the right option for aspiring Microsoft Azure AI professionals. Candidates could clear only one exam to achieve the credential of an “Azure AI Engineer Associate.” Candidates could find around 62 questions in which five questions would relate to a case study.
The format of the AI-100 certification exam can also include scenario-based questions with single and multiple response options. You could also find drag and drop questions as well as tasks for arranging in a proper sequence in the AI 100 exam.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for the “AI-100: Designing and Implementing an Azure AI Solution” certification exam.
It is an associate-level exam, thereby implying that certification in Azure Fundamentals would be favorable.
The addition of the Azure Data Scientist Associate track in the new Azure certifications path is also promising news for aspiring candidates. The role of an Azure data scientist involves the application of knowledge in data science and machine learning for implementing and running machine learning workloads on Azure. The specific abilities of an Azure Data Scientist Associate should be in the use of Azure Machine Learning Service.
Azure Data Scientist would have to plan and create an ideal working environment for data science workloads on Microsoft Azure. In addition, they should also show their capabilities in conducting data experiments alongside training predictive models. The work of Azure Data Scientists also involves the management and optimization of machine learning models. Most important of all, they are also responsible for the deployment of machine learning models into production.
Microsoft has only one Azure certification exam in the new role-based certification model for the Azure Data Scientist Associate job role.
Azure Security Engineer is the newest role added in the role-based Azure certification path. To become a Microsoft Certified Azure Security Engineer, you need to pass only one certification – Exam AZ-500: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies. On passing the certification exam for AZ-500, you will become a Microsoft Certified Azure Security Engineer and will receive a badge of Azure Security Engineer. Let’s have a look at the details of the AZ-500 exam.
Microsoft Azure Security Technologies (AZ-500)
Microsoft has recently launched AZ-500: Azure Security Technologies exam for Azure security engineers. You don’t need to pass any other certification to be eligible for the AZ-500 exam but it is recommended to pass AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam.
Prerequisites: Prerequisites for Microsoft Azure Security Technologies (AZ-500) exam are –
- Familiarity with the implementation of security controls on the Microsoft Azure platform
- In-depth knowledge of virtualization, cloud N-tier architecture, Amazon Kubernetes Service, and networking
- Ability to recognize and address vulnerabilities using several security tools; implementing security solutions for the protection of networks, applications, and data
- Expertise in scripting and automation, identity and access management, and maintaining security status
The Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate is one of the latest additions to the Azure certifications path. The certification is ideal for individuals who want to pursue the role of Azure Data Engineers. Azure data engineers specialize in the design and implementation of data management, monitoring, security, and privacy.
Azure data engineers also show comprehensive fluency in the complete stack of Azure data services to address business requirements. Candidates have to clear two Azure certification exams to earn the tag of ‘Azure Data Engineer Associate.’ The two exams have the codes DP-200 and DP-201. Let us reflect further on the details of each certification exam.
DP-200: Implementing an Azure Data Solution
DP-200: Implementing an Azure Data Solution exam is suitable for Microsoft azure data engineers. The DP-200 came into the Azure certifications path on January 31st, 2019. The DP-200 certification exam is one out of the two exams for Azure Data Engineer Associate certification. It serves as a supporting examination for the other examination, i.e., DP-201 in the Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate exam.
Prerequisites
DP-200 exam is for the Azure data engineers responsible for implementing data solutions on the Azure cloud platform. The prerequisites for the DP-200 Azure certification exam are as follows.
- The ability for implementing data solutions using Azure services.
- No previous Azure certification is needed.
DP-201: Designing an Azure Data Solution
Microsoft released the DP-201 exam in Azure certifications path on January 31st, 2019, alongside the DP-200 exam. The certification is a part of the Azure Data Engineer Associate job role in the new role-based certification path. Candidates have to clear DP-200 and DP-201 both to obtain the Azure Data Engineer Associate certification.
Prerequisites
The prerequisites for DP-201: Designing an Azure Data Solution exam are as follows.
- The ability for designing solutions using Azure services.
- No prior certification is needed.
The role of an Azure Database Administrator or Azure Database Management Specialist also includes implementation and management of operational aspects pertaining to cloud-native and hybrid data platform solutions on Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Azure data services.
In addition, Azure Database Administrators or database management specialists have to focus on management, performance monitoring, security, optimization of contemporary relational database solutions, and availability.
Administering Relational Databases on Microsoft Azure Exam (DP-300)
Microsoft DP-300: Administering Relational Databases on the Microsoft Azure certification exam is one of the new additions among existing role-based certifications. The new certification by Microsoft Azure would be the ideal exam for aspiring cloud-based database administrator and database management specialists.
Candidates will receive the Azure Database Administer Associate certification on clearing this exam. The role of certified candidates would primarily involve the management of relational databases on the cloud as well as on-premises, developed on top of Microsoft Azure data services and Microsoft SQL Server. The certification exam is presently in the beta stage, thereby implying that there would be no facility of immediate scoring.
Prerequisites
As you all know, there are no mandatory prerequisites for the Azure certification exams. The recommended prerequisites for the new Azure certification exam for the database administrator role include the following.
- Skills for using a variety of tools and methods for performing day-to-day database administration tasks.
- At least two years of industry involvement in database administration.
- Minimum of one year of hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure Cloud ecosystem.
The addition of Azure Architect with SAP Workloads track in the new Azure certifications path is also promising news for aspiring candidates. The role of an Azure Architect with SAP workloads involves the application of knowledge in industry standards that are specific to the long-term operation of an SAP solution.
Microsoft has only one Azure certification exam in the new role-based certification model for the Azure Architect for SAP Workloads job role. The title of the exam is “Planning and Administering Microsoft Azure for SAP Workloads”. The code for the exam is AZ-120. Let us reflect on some basic information regarding the certification exam.
Planning and Administering Microsoft Azure for SAP Workloads (AZ-120)
The AZ-120 Azure certification exam is ideal for architects and engineers having knowledge regarding SAP Landscape Certification Process. In addition, it also tests the knowledge of candidates about the industry standards related to long-term operations of SAP solutions. The AZ-120 exam is the sole requirement to achieve the Microsoft Certified: Azure for SAP Workloads Specialty certification.
Prerequisites
The prerequisites for Planning and Administering Microsoft Azure for SAP Workloads (AZ-120) exam are:
- In-depth experience and knowledge of SAP applications, SAP NetWeaver, S/4HANA, SAP HANA, OS Servers for SAP applications and databases, and SAP BW.
- Candidates should also have fluency in Azure Portal, virtualization, ARM templates, cloud infrastructure, operating systems, storage structures, disaster recovery design, networking, data protection concepts, and high availability design.
- An Azure Architect or Azure Administrator certification is highly recommended alongside Linux and SAP HANA certifications
Azure IoT developer is the new role added in the list of role-based Microsoft Azure certifications. This new role gives a promising career option to the IoT developers who are responsible for the implementation and coding required to develop and maintain the cloud and edge of an IoT solution, to set up the physical devices, and to maintain the devices throughout the life cycle.
Microsoft has only one Azure certification exam in the new role-based certification model for the Azure Architect job role. The title of the exam is “Microsoft Azure IoT Developer”. One who clears the exam receives the badge of Microsoft Certified: Azure IoT Developer Specialty and becomes Microsoft Certified Azure IoT Developer Specialist. The code for the exam is AZ-220. Let us reflect on some basic information regarding the certification exam.
Microsoft Azure IoT Developer Exam (AZ-220)
The Microsoft Azure IoT Developer Beta Exam, AZ-220, is a specialty-level Azure certification. The exam is ideal for candidates aspiring to become an Azure IoT Developer. The job role of an Azure IoT Developer involves the implementation of IoT solutions as well as coding needed for creating and maintaining the cloud and edge aspects of an IoT solution.
Prerequisites
The prerequisites for the AZ-220 Azure certification exam are,
- Thorough knowledge of the implementation of Azure services for developing an IoT solution.
- Ability to recognize Azure IoT service configuration settings in the code part of an IoT solution.
- Skills for performing particular IoT coding tasks in at least one programming language supported by Azure such as Python, C#, C or Node.
As per the new role-based Azure certifications path, for Azure Solution Architect Expert role, you need to pass two certifications – Exam AZ-303: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies and Exam AZ-304: Microsoft Azure Architect Design. After passing the certification exams for AZ-303 and AZ-304, you will become Microsoft Certified Azure Solution Architect Expert and will receive a badge of Azure Solution Architect Expert.
Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies Exam (AZ-303)
The AZ-303 Azure Certification exam is the updated version of the existing certification for Azure Solution Architects, AZ-300. The exam tests capabilities of candidates to advise stakeholders and convert business requirements into solutions with higher security, reliability, and scalability. The AZ-303 exam will be available on or around June 29, 2020.
Prerequisites
The important prerequisites for the AZ-303 exam are as follows,
- Detailed knowledge and comprehensive experience in IT operations such as virtualization, business continuity, networking, identity, data platform, governance, disaster recovery, and budgeting.
- High-level expertise in Azure administration.
- Hands-on experience in DevOps processes and Azure development processes.
As per the new role-based Azure certifications path, for Azure Solution Architect Expert role, you need to pass two certifications – Exam AZ-303: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies and Exam AZ-304: Microsoft Azure Architect Design. After passing the certification exams for AZ-303 and AZ-304, you will become Microsoft Certified Azure Solution Architect Expert and will receive a badge of Azure Solution Architect Expert.
Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies Exam (AZ-303)
The AZ-303 Azure Certification exam is the updated version of the existing certification for Azure Solution Architects, AZ-300. The exam tests capabilities of candidates to advise stakeholders and convert business requirements into solutions with higher security, reliability, and scalability. The AZ-303 exam will be available on or around June 29, 2020.
Prerequisites
The important prerequisites for the AZ-303 exam are as follows,
- Detailed knowledge and comprehensive experience in IT operations such as virtualization, business continuity, networking, identity, data platform, governance, disaster recovery, and budgeting.
- High-level expertise in Azure administration.
- Hands-on experience in DevOps processes and Azure development processes.
Microsoft Azure Architect Design Beta Exam (AZ-304)
The AZ-304 beta exam is the updated version of the existing Azure certification for Microsoft Azure solution architects, AZ-304. Candidates for this exam will have to prove their expertise in providing recommendations to stakeholders and translation of business requirements into highly secure, reliable, and scalable solutions.
Prerequisites
The important prerequisites covered in the AZ-304 exam are as follows,
- Expertise in skills for Azure administration.
- Practical experience in Azure development processes and DevOps processes.
- In-depth knowledge and experience regarding IT operations such as networking, identity, governance, security, virtualization, disaster recovery, budgeting, and business continuity.
One who has already received the badge of Azure Administrator Associate or Azure Developer Associate can become an Azure DevOps Engineer Expert. Whether be the Azure Administrator Associate or Azure Developer Associate, the candidate needs to pass Exam AZ-400: Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions to become Azure DevOps Engineer. Let’s have a look at the details of the AZ-400 exam.
Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions (AZ-400)
Microsoft also released Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions (AZ-400) – BETA Version in beta on September 24, 2018. This certification also comes under the Azure DevOps Engineer Expert role. After receiving the badge of Azure Administrator Associate or Azure Developer Associate, one needs to pass the AZ-400 exam to become an Azure DevOps Engineer Expert.
Prerequisites: Prerequisites for Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions (AZ-400) exam are –
- Familiarity with both the Azure development and Azure administration and expertise in at least one of these areas
- Ability to design and implement DevOps practices for infrastructure as code, version control, configuration management, compliance, release, build, and testing with the use of Azure technologies.
- Proficiency in Agile practices
The increasing emphasis of Azure on ML and AI has resulted in the creation of many AI-based job roles. Candidates should qualify the newly launched AI-900 certification exam for this fundamental level role.
AI-900: Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals
The AI-900: Microsoft Azure, AI Fundamentals certification, is one of the recent additions in Azure’s certification model. It is helpful in proving the fundamental knowledge of candidates in artificial intelligence and machine learning concepts. You would receive the Microsoft Certified Azure AI Fundamentals certifications by qualifying this exam.
Prerequisites
Candidates should note that there are no specific prerequisites for the AI-900 Azure certification. AI-900 exam is suitable for candidates from technical and non-technical backgrounds. However, the following prerequisites can help you gain a better chance of qualifying the exam.
- General programming knowledge or experience.
- Knowledge of at least one high-level programming language.
- Basic awareness of common ML and AI concepts and their relation with Azure.
Candidates aspiring to work with data on the Azure Cloud platform could turn to this fundamental role introduced recently in Azure certifications. You have to qualify the newly launched DP-900 certification exam only for this role.
DP-900: Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals
The DP-900 Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals is the ideal certification for any aspiring cloud professional who wants to work with data. The certification proves the skills and knowledge of candidates about core data concepts. You can earn the Microsoft Certified Azure Data Fundamentals certifications by qualifying the DP-900 certification.
Prerequisites
Candidates don’t need any specific prerequisites for the DP-900 certification exam. On the other hand, the following knowledge and experience requirements can be helpful for candidates in their exam preparations.
- Familiarity with basic concepts on relational and non-relational data.
- Knowledge of different types of data workloads.
Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure own over 50% of the cloud infrastructure services market and customers in various sectors and industries. Having a Microsoft Azure Certification is likely to boost your career. It is a great way to validate your skills and differentiate yourself from others. You’ll also need practical, hands-on experience and knowledge to guide you in real-life environments.
Career options for this course.
- Service Desk Analyst
- Data Support Technician
- Help Desk Tech
- Desktop Support Administrator
- Technical Support Specialist
- End User Computing Technician
- Field Service Technician
- Associate Network Engineer
- System Support Specialist
Get Azure certified.