Introduction

A few months ago, Microsoft made two changes to the  Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification exams. Exam AZ-300: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies got retired and replaced by the Exam AZ-303: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies and the Exam AZ-301: Microsoft Azure Architect Design got retired and replaced by the Exam AZ-304: Microsoft Azure Architect Design.  The change of track has already taken place with effect from 30th September 2020. Exam codes are changed to show the updated contents, whereas the name of the certification and the titles of exams remained the same. These changes are available on the Microsoft website.

Last week I passed the Microsoft exam AZ-303  Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies. It is the first exam of my Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification. I’m sharing my experience with the exam here. Let me begin with my introduction. I’m working as an Azure Administrator in a large scale manufacturing concern.

I have been working in this position for the last seven years. Before that, I have worked with the AWS Cloud platform for 5 years. I am having 12 years of hands-on experience in Cloud Computing with almost 10 years as a cloud platform administrator. It’s been almost a year that I am planning to leave the job and start my independent career in consultancy for cloud platform solutions. As the cloud market is expanding like never before, I think it’s the right time to go for a venture of my own.

I have a good platform knowledge of both Azure and AWS platform. I believe that in an independent capacity, I can contribute a lot to the market with my experience. To earn new skills and to get my existing skillset validated, I have planned to earn two certifications Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert & AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional. In the first place, I am going for Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert. There are two exams you need to pass to earn this certification, these are exam AZ-303: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies and exam AZ-304: Microsoft Azure Architect Design respectively. Once I decided about my new career goals, I started preparing for the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification.

At first, I planned to go for AZ-303: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies exam. As I have already taken some IT certifications, that is why certification was not something new for me. As with my previous exams, I first downloaded the exam objective and skills list from the Microsoft learn website. This is a must as you get the updated course outline and exam objectives from the vendor leaving no confusion about the exam coverage. Once you have the updated course outline with you, you can make a good plan for preparation.

You can make an effective daily timetable and set time-based goals. It is very important as it won’t let you go over-burden in the end. For certification, the best personal traits that can make difference are dedication, persistence, and hard work. Besides the personal qualities, you need good planning and the right study material to pass an exam. For training material, I have always trusted using Marks4Sure which is my favorite training provider for the certification training resources due to multiple reasons. Marks4Sure is always updated and innovative in its training material.

Like the case of the exam AZ-303 replacing the older exam AZ-300, the updated content became available on Marks4Sure very early as compared to the competitors. From Marks4Sure, I opted for both PDF + Testing Engine as it is a comprehensive package for the preparation of the exam AZ-303: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies.  The braindumps by Marks4Sure are very well compiled. I like Marks4Sure for being affordable and innovative. Practice questions and answers from Marks4Sure helped me a lot in assessing my preparation in accordance with the course outline provided by Microsoft.

Marks4Sure offers a money-back guarantee for all the training material provided by them. This gives great confidence to the candidate about the authenticity and quality of the study material. The PDF dumps from Marks4Sure were really helpful in my preparation. Finally came the exam day and I went to the testing center for the same. I did well as per my expectations and I passed the exam: AZ-303 by securing 93% marks on my first attempt. This was a great experience. Now I am preparing for the second exam for the certification which is AZ-304. I believe that hard work and the right selection of training material are the essences of great success.

Exam AZ-303: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies

Languages: English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean

This exam measures your ability to accomplish the following technical tasks: implement and monitor an Azure infrastructure; implement management and security solutions; implement solutions for apps; and implement and manage data platforms.

Candidates for this exam should have subject matter expertise in designing and implementing solutions that run on Microsoft Azure, including aspects like compute, network, storage, and security. Candidates should have intermediate-level skills for administering Azure. Candidates should understand Azure development and DevOps processes.

A candidate for this exam should have advanced experience and knowledge of IT operations, including networking, virtualization, identity, security, business continuity, disaster recovery, data platform, budgeting, and governance–this role should manage how decisions in each area affect an overall solution. In addition, this role should have expert-level skills in Azure administration and have experience with Azure development and DevOps processes.

Part of the requirements for: Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert

Skills measured

  • Implement and monitor an Azure infrastructure (50-55%)
  • Implement management and security solutions (25-30%)
  • Implement solutions for apps (10-15%)
  • Implement and manage data platforms (10-15%)

Conclusion

Cloud computing is one of the fastest-growing sectors in IT. Microsoft Azure is the most favorite platform of enterprise clients. For the advancement of a promising career in Azure Solutions, Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert is an excellent certification. It’s an expert-level certification that reflects a professional competency in Microsoft Azure Architecture.