Microsoft Azure - Cloud Nerchuko

Microsoft Azure is one of the cloud computing platforms available on the Internet.

It is a public cloud platform that offers a comprehensive suite of cloud services, including Virtual Machines, Web Applications, Databases, Storage Solutions, Messaging Services, DevOps tools, Machine Learning capabilities, Artificial Intelligence solutions, Internet of Things (IoT) services, and advanced analytics - empowering businesses to innovate and scale seamlessly.

Azure is designed to provide on-demand computing resources in a cost-effective and convenient way. It helps businesses and individuals avoid large upfront investments in hardware, reduces maintenance responsibilities, and improves data accessibility and scalability.

Why Microsoft Azure?

Azure is Microsoft's flagship cloud computing platform that provides a vast array of services—ranging from virtual machines and databases to AI and DevOps tools. It is used by 95% of Fortune 500 companies and supports open-source technologies across multiple programming languages, frameworks, and operating systems.

Career Opportunities & Salary Insights

As cloud adoption continues to grow, skilled Microsoft Azure professionals are in high demand across startups, large enterprises, and government sectors. Here's a look at potential career progression within the Azure ecosystem:

Entry-Level Roles

Job Titles: Azure Support Engineer, Cloud Administrator, Junior Azure Developer 

Average Salary (India): ₹5–8 LPA 

Skills Required: Fundamentals of cloud computing, Azure portal navigation, virtual machines setup, and basic networking.

Mid-Level Roles (3–6 years of experience)

Job Titles: Azure Developer, Cloud Solutions Architect, DevOps Engineer 

Average Salary: ₹12–18 LPA 

Skills Required: Proficiency with ARM templates, Azure CLI, Azure Functions, Cosmos DB, App Services, and implementing security best practices.

Senior/Expert-Level Roles

Job Titles: Azure Architect, Cloud Consultant, Enterprise Solutions Lead 

Average Salary: ₹25+ LPA 

Skills Required: Advanced expertise in hybrid cloud deployments, governance frameworks, identity management with Entra ID, cost optimization strategies, and designing cross-region architectures.

Microsoft offers Azure certifications tailored to all skill levels—whether you're just starting out or advancing as a seasoned cloud professional. 

Start your certification journey on Azure by clicking on the certification name and also raise a free read only access to Azure Portal at Cloud Nerchuko.

Azure Certifications: Your Roadmap to Success

Beginner Certifications

1. Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals

  • Exam Code: AZ-900

  • Ideal for: Beginners with no cloud experience.

  • Focus Areas:

    • Cloud concepts

    • Core Azure services

    • Pricing and support

    • Azure governance and compliance

✅ Recommended as the first Azure certification for anyone new to cloud computing.

 2. Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals

  • Exam Code: SC-900

  • Ideal for: Those new to security, compliance, or identity in the Microsoft cloud ecosystem.

  • Focus Areas:

    • Security, compliance, and identity concepts

    • Microsoft identity and access management

    • Microsoft security and compliance solutions

3. Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals

  • Exam Code: DP-900

  • Ideal for: Beginners interested in data roles (data engineers, database admins, etc.).

  • Focus Areas:

    • Core data concepts

    • Relational and non-relational data

    • Analytics workloads on Azure

4. Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals

  • Exam Code: AI-900

  • Ideal for: Those new to AI and machine learning, especially within the Azure ecosystem.

  • Focus Areas:

    • AI and ML workloads

    • Azure AI services (e.g., Cognitive Services, Azure Machine Learning)

Summary Table

Certification NameExam CodeFocus Area
Azure FundamentalsAZ-900Cloud & Azure basics
Security, Compliance & Identity FundamentalsSC-900Security, compliance, identity
Azure Data FundamentalsDP-900Data concepts and services
Azure AI FundamentalsAI-900AI and ML concepts on Azure


Check out all certifications on Micrsoft Azure credentials page. Use the filters on the left-hand panel to narrow down your search by selecting the desired role and expertise level as you scroll. 

Associate level certifications:

1. Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate

  • Exam Code: AZ-104

  • Role: Azure Administrator

  • Focus Areas:

    • Managing Azure subscriptions and resources

    • Implementing storage and virtual networks

    • Managing identities and governance

    • Deploying and managing compute resources

2. Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate

  • Exam Code: AZ-204

  • Role: Azure Developer

  • Focus Areas:

    • Developing Azure compute solutions

    • Connecting to and consuming Azure services and third-party services

    • Implementing security and monitoring

    • Deploying with CI/CD pipelines

3. Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate

  • Exam Code: AZ-500

  • Role: Security Engineer

  • Focus Areas:

    • Identity and access

    • Platform protection

    • Security operations

    • Data and application security

4. Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Associate

This is technically more advanced but often grouped with intermediate level for experienced professionals.

  • Exam Code: AZ-305

  • Role: Solutions Architect

  • Focus Areas:

    • Designing infrastructure solutions

    • Governance, compute, networking, and identity

    • High availability and disaster recovery

Prerequisite Knowledge: It’s recommended to take AZ-104 first or have equivalent experience.

5. Microsoft Certified: Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate

  • Exam Code: DP-600

  • Role: Data Analyst

  • Your responsibilities for this role include

    1. Prepare and enrich data for analysis

    2. Secure and maintain analytics assets

    3. Implement and manage semantic mode.

6. Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate

  • Exam Code: AI-102

  • Role: AI Engineer

  • Focus Areas:

    • Designing and implementing AI solutions using Azure Cognitive Services, Azure Machine Learning, and Conversational AI

7. Microsoft Certified: Azure Fabric Data Engineer Associate 

  • Exam Code: DP-700

  • Role: Data Engineer, Data Scientist

  • Focus Areas:

    • Data Ingestion

    • Data transformations

    • Real-time Intelligence

    • Modelling and AI stuff

Summary Table

Certification Name Exam Code Role
Azure Administrator Associate AZ-104 Administering Azure
Azure Developer Associate AZ-204 Developing for Azure
Azure Security Engineer Associate AZ-500 Security and compliance
Azure Solutions Architect Associate AZ-305 Designing cloud solutions
Azure Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate DP-600 Data analysis
Azure AI Engineer Associate AI-102 Implementing AI on Azure
Azure Fabric Data Engineer Associate         DP-700        Data engineering on Fabric

Expert level certifications

These are for professionals with deep technical experience and often require passing associate-level exams first.

1. Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert

  • Exam Code: AZ-305

  • Prerequisite: Experience in AZ-104 topics (Admin-level)

  • Role: Solutions Architect

  • Focus Areas:

    • Designing identity, governance, and monitoring

    • Designing data storage and business continuity

    • Designing infrastructure, app architecture

✅ Note: Dependencies may be there with other certifications.

2. Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert

  • Exam Code: AZ-400

  • Prerequisites: Must have Azure Administrator (AZ-104) or Azure Developer (AZ-204) Associate cert

  • Role: DevOps Engineer

  • Focus Areas:

    • Designing DevOps strategy

    • Implementing CI/CD

    • Source control, security, monitoring

    • Infrastructure as Code using tools like ARM, Bicep, Terraform


Specialty Azure certifications

  • Exam Code: DP-420

  • Ideal for: NoSQL Developers, Backend Engineers

  • Focus Areas:

    • Designing and implementing solutions using Azure Cosmos DB

    • Data modeling, partitioning, indexing

    • Performance tuning and consistency levels

2. Azure Network Engineer Associate (Specialty-level content)

  • Exam Code: AZ-700

  • Ideal for: Network Engineers

  • Focus Areas:

    • Designing and implementing network solutions on Azure

    • Hybrid connectivity (VPN, ExpressRoute)

    • Network security, load balancing, monitoring

3. Cybersecurity Architect Expert

  • Exam Code: SC-100

  • Ideal for: Enterprise Security Architects

  • Focus Areas:

    • Developing and implementing cybersecurity strategies

    • Zero Trust, Microsoft security stack (Defender, Sentinel)

    • Risk management and governance

4. Azure Data Scientist Associate (Specialty-aligned)

  • Exam Code: DP-100

  • Ideal for: Data Scientists

  • Focus Areas:

    • Building and training ML models using Azure Machine Learning

    • Data prep, experimentation, deployment

    • ML Ops and monitoring pipelines

5. Azure IoT Developer Specialty

  • Exam Code: AZ-220

  • Ideal for: IoT Developers, Embedded Engineers

  • Focus Areas:

    • Building IoT solutions using Azure IoT Hub

    • Device provisioning, data processing

    • IoT Edge, security, and diagnostics

6. Azure for SAP Workloads Specialty

  • Exam Code: AZ-120

  • Ideal for: SAP Architects, Enterprise Solution Consultants

  • Focus Areas:

    • Planning, deploying, and managing SAP on Azure

    • SAP HANA and NetWeaver

    • Sizing, cost optimization, high availability

Summary Table

Certification NameExam CodeFocus AreaIdeal For
Azure Cosmos DB Developer SpecialtyDP-420NoSQL DB developmentNoSQL Developers, App Engineers
Azure Network Engineer AssociateAZ-700Networking (hybrid/cloud)Network Engineers
Cybersecurity Architect ExpertSC-100Enterprise security architectureSecurity Architects, CISOs
Azure Data Scientist AssociateDP-100ML model development with Azure MLData Scientists
Azure IoT Developer SpecialtyAZ-220IoT solutions and device integrationIoT and Embedded Engineers
Azure for SAP Workloads SpecialtyAZ-120SAP migrations and ops on AzureSAP Consultants, Cloud Architects



Databases:

Azure Cosmos DB

Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model database service. It is designed to deliver high throughput and low latency performance.

By leveraging data partitioning and replication, it enhances both scalability and reliability. Cosmos DB is commonly used for NoSQL workloads and works highly efficiently for online applications and real-time data processing.



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