I just finished the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) course.

Because this was a course created by Microsoft, I expected it to be well-produced and free from the kind of sloppiness I’ve encountered in other online courses – and it delivered. The presentation was clear and well-structured. I quite liked how new ideas were often introduced through relatable analogies and everyday examples, which made the material more accessible and easier to grasp.

I had recently completed the Hugging Face LLM course and found myself struggling with some of the instructional delivery, particularly due to almost impenetrable accents and inconsistent pacing. The AZ-900 course stood out for being accessible, polished, and easy to follow, which made a big difference in how quickly and effectively I could absorb the material.

I found the course to be overly theoretical, with too few practical exercises provided throughout. More hands-on activities would have helped solidify key concepts and improve retention. While the course’s primary objective was to “describe” concepts and the exam focused solely on testing conceptual understanding, I believe that conceptual mastery is often better achieved through practical application and practice.

The course wasn’t particularly difficult in terms of content, but completing it over just two weeks, with only 1 to 3 hours of study time per day, did make it feel like a lot to take in over a short period. Also, some exam questions focused on very specific details that are easily forgotten when studying at a rapid pace.

Recommended Supplementary Resources

I recommend exploring some video content on the side as a welcome diversion. I found these helpful:

• AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals Exam Cram (2024 Edition) - Full Course (for a general video walkthrough of course content)
• Azure Fundamentals AZ 900 40 Real Exam Questions (for a better idea of what kind of questions could come up)

Key Learnings and Insights

I feel that I gained a solid foundation in cloud computing concepts, particularly within the Azure environment. I chose to pursue Azure over AWS because it’s the platform we use at work, making it the most immediately relevant.

That said, while working through the storage services module, not least the exercise involving image uploads, I was struck by how similar it felt to tasks I had previously done with Amazon S3. This reinforced my belief that cloud skills are highly transferable across platforms, adding another layer of value to what I was learning.

The course provided:

• A clear understanding of core cloud computing principles and the shared responsibility model
• Familiarity with core Azure architectural components, including compute, networking, and storage
• Exposure to essential tools for securing, governing, and managing Azure environments
• Insight into Azure pricing models, SLAs, and the full lifecycle of cloud services

An added bonus was that the course aligned perfectly with a task I was handling at work involving the deployment of a script in the cloud. The section on serverless computing and Azure Functions provided just the context I needed, enhancing both my understanding and the quality of my approach.

Next Steps

Overall, completing the AZ-900 course has deepened my appreciation for the potential of cloud computing and inspired me to continue learning and experimenting with Azure beyond the fundamentals.

I feel like I’ve just dipped my toe in, but it’s made me hungry for more. I’ll be continuing my journey by starting the Azure AI Engineer certification path next.🔸