I recently passed the 70-534 Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions exam, and I want to share with you tips about the exam and the resources I used to study:

Should you take the exam?

If you are a Solutions or Software Architect looking to validate your Microsoft Azure skills then this exam is for you. Also note that Microsoft expects you to:

  • Know the features and capabilities of Azure services to be able to design cloud solutions.
  • Be able to define the appropriate infrastructure and platform solutions to meet the required functional, operational and deployment requirements through the solution life cycle.

Skills measured:

  • Design Microsoft Azure infrastructure and networking (15-20%)
  • Secure resources (15-20%)
  • Design an application storage and data access strategy (15-20%)
  • Design an advanced application (15-20%)
  • Design websites (15-20%)
  • Design a management, monitoring, and business continuity strategy (15-20%)

Books:

  • Exam Ref 70-534 Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions as all Exam Ref books it’s an important resource for studying but it’s not a complete Training Guide so reading and practicing with other resources is important.
  • Microsoft Azure Essentials: Fundamentals of Azure a book you can find in the Microsoft Virtual Academy along with many other free e-books

Courses:

The Microsoft Virtual Academy is a place filled with great training material and best of all it’s free! Here is the list of courses I completed before the exam:

  • Architecting Microsoft Azure Solutions
  • Get Started with Windows Azure Today Jump Start
  • The Microsoft Hybrid Cloud: Best Practices Guidance
  • Microsoft Azure IaaS Deep Dive Jump Start
  • Establish Microsoft Azure IaaS Technical Fundamentals

Practice tests:

Just like for any certification exam, studying with practice tests is key to success.

  • MesureUp 70-534 Practice Test: contains 150 questions and I really like the new online format!

Hands On:

Be sure to get some hands on experience!

  • For instance I can tell you that I’m not a great Powershell fan so I had to open the console and start playing and trying the commands in order to learn and understand them.
  • Coming from the Dev side of the world I really took time to play with Virtual Networks, ACL‘s and NSG‘s

Hope it helps!