Having been launched with great fanfare at the recent Ignite conference, what are the benefits of Microsoft’s new role-based certifications and which specific skills and knowledge will they help to deliver?
Why the change?
Microsoft has been very clear about the reasons for launching the new certifications. Feedback from customers told them that the previous exams were too broad, covering a range of skills that very few individuals, even experts in that area, would have. At the same time, Azure’s features continued to expand and so did the work that Azure Administrators were being asked to do.
Furthermore, research indicated that people get certified not only to build or update skills on a specific technology but also to distinguish themselves from other professionals, improve job opportunities, and to have more influence and impact in their current or future job role.
There’s also the issue of the seemingly ever-present skills gap. For instance, although 70% of CIOs have a ‘cloud-first strategy’ and 85% of enterprises want to incorporate cloud architecture, the reality (according to recent figures) is that only 16% of organisations actually have the required skills and processes.
So, as the cloud continues to play an ever-increasing role in how services are delivered to customers, it became clear that the time was ripe for change.
The result is a new training and certification programme that looks beyond individual technologies and focuses instead on the skills and concepts needed for specific job roles. And, in the first instance, this focus is on the following six new job roles:
- Azure Administrator
- Azure Developer
- Azure Solutions Architect
- Azure DevOps Engineer
- Microsoft 365 Modern Desktop Administrator
- Microsoft 365 Enterprise Administrator
Benefits for the candidate
At a general level Microsoft certifications are among the most highly regarded in the IT field, and in a world where more and more people are gaining degrees, certifications can undoubtedly provide an edge. In addition, they can also help in the pay stakes. For example, research indicates that 33% of Microsoft professionals enjoyed a pay rise post-certification, whilst Microsoft certified technologists earn on average 15% more than their non-certified peers.
Furthermore, increasing number of hiring organisations view certifications as an essential part of their criteria when recruiting senior staff.
When it comes to the new role-based certifications, there’s a recognition that the cloud plays an ever-more significant role in how services are delivered to customers. Consequently, IT professionals (even those who still work in on-premises environments) must increasingly focus their learning efforts on the cloud, otherwise they risk not being ready for that next career step when it comes.
In addition, the new training and certification goes beyond individual technologies and focuses instead on the skills and concepts needed for specific job roles, meaning that successful candidates will benefit from increased productivity and in-demand skills which, in turn, will help them become more valuable to their team and organisation.
And there’s a commitment from Microsoft that the certification and training will be updated on a regular basis to ensure individuals are kept up to speed as the roles, platforms and technologies grow and expand.
Benefits for the employer
From an employer’s perspective, there is increasing pressure to both find and retain IT professionals who have the necessary skills to work across multiple platforms with rapidly changing tools and technology. This is exactly the requirement that the new training is intended to address.
Traditionally, as we’ve seen, Microsoft offered broad product certifications that required individuals to study for skills that weren’t necessarily directly relevant to their job. The new role-based approach will do much to address these concerns.
There’s also the issue that a lack of continuous training opportunities invariably impacts a company’s ability to retain employees. Providing an environment and a programme where employees are trained and certified in the latest skills and concepts can only help with the retention process.
Skills and knowledge
The exams and associated training for the Azure Administrator certification are now live, whilst the next two certifications – Azure Developer and Azure Solutions Architect -currently have exams in beta.
A quick look through the requisite skills and knowledge verified by these three certifications only serves to emphasise just how valuable successful candidates will be to their employers, as well as making themselves more marketable should they decide upon a career move.
Azure Administrator
An Azure Administrator is responsible for implementing, monitoring and maintaining Microsoft Azure solutions, including major services related to compute, storage, network and security, with a deep understanding of each across the full IT lifecycle. The skills and knowledge required are:
- Manage Azure subscriptions and resources
- Implement and manage storage
- Deploy and manage virtual machines
- Configure and manage virtual networks
- Manage identities
- Evaluate and perform server migration to Azure
- Implement and manage application services
- Implement advanced virtual networking
- Secure identities
Azure Developer
Aimed at those who design and build cloud solutions, including applications and services and participate in all phases of development. The skills and knowledge here are:
- Select the appropriate cloud technology solution
- Develop for cloud storage
- Create Platform as a Service (PaaS) solutions
- Secure cloud solutions
- Develop for an Azure cloud model
- Implement cloud integration solutions
- Develop Azure Cognitive Services, Bot and IoT solutions
Azure Solutions Architect
The focus for this role is on designing solutions that run on Azure, advising stakeholders and translating business requirements into secure, scalable and reliable solutions. The validated skills and knowledge are:
- Deploy and configure infrastructure
- Implement workloads and security
- Architect cloud technology solutions
- Create and deploy apps
- Implement authentication and secure data
- Develop for the cloud
- Determine workload requirements
- Design for identity and security
- Design a data platform solution
- Design a business continuity strategy
- Design for deployment, migration and integration
- Design an infrastructure strategy
And with more role-based certifications planned for 2019, Microsoft is making a significant move in enabling ambitious IT professionals to learn and develop the skills necessary to be successful in the Microsoft cloud.
Matt Barclay
Solutions Architect
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