Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) Prep

Your boss just dropped a bombshell

It's Monday morning. You sit down with your coffee, open Slack, and see this message from your VP of Engineering: "We're migrating everything to Azure by Q3. I need at least three people on the team Azure-certified by next month. Who's in?"

You glance around. Nobody's volunteering. You think: I've used AWS a bit, I've heard of Azure, but I couldn't explain the difference between a Resource Group and a Management Group if my life depended on it.

Then you Google "Azure certification" and discover the AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals. It's the entry-level exam. No prerequisites. No coding required. People pass it after 1-3 weeks of study. And it signals to your boss — and every future employer — that you understand how Azure works.

You decide to go for it. This module is your blueprint.

The AZ-900 at a glance

The AZ-900 is Microsoft's foundational cloud certification. It proves you understand cloud concepts, Azure services, Azure management and governance, and Azure pricing. Here's what you're signing up for:

The six knowledge areas (and how much they matter)

The AZ-900 tests you across six domains. Microsoft publishes the exact weight of each domain, so you know where to spend your study time:

Microsoft consolidated the exam into these three broad areas as of the latest update. Earlier versions listed six sub-domains — the content is the same, just reorganised.

These weights tell you something important: Azure architecture and services is the single biggest section. If you're short on time, that's where the points live.

There Are No Dumb Questions

"Do I need to know how to code for the AZ-900?"

No. The AZ-900 is designed for non-technical people too — business analysts, project managers, salespeople, and executives. You won't write a single line of code. You need to understand what services do and when to use them, not how to implement them.

"I already have an AWS certification. Is the AZ-900 worth it?"

Yes, if you work with (or plan to work with) Azure. The concepts overlap heavily — cloud models, IaaS/PaaS/SaaS, identity, governance. You'll find 60-70% of the material familiar. The Azure-specific naming and tooling is what you need to learn.

Azure core services: the ones that show up on the exam

Azure has 200+ services. The exam cares about roughly 15 of them. Here's your cheat sheet for the services that appear most frequently:

Compute services (running your code)

Storage and databases (keeping your data)

Networking

Azure management tools: how you control everything

Azure gives you multiple ways to manage your resources. The exam tests whether you know what each tool is for:

The key exam insight: Azure Portal is for exploring, CLI/PowerShell are for automating, and ARM templates/Bicep are for repeatable infrastructure deployments. If a question asks about deploying the same environment across 50 subscriptions consistently, the answer is ARM templates or Bicep — not clicking through the Portal 50 times.

Azure pricing: how the money works

This section trips up a lot of first-time test takers because it's less "techy" and more about understanding Microsoft's billing structure. But it's heavily tested.

The hierarchy

Think of Azure's organisational structure like a company:

Cost Management + SLAs

There Are No Dumb Questions

"What happens if Microsoft misses their SLA?"

You get service credits — a percentage discount on your next bill. You don't get a refund. And you have to file a claim yourself; Microsoft doesn't automatically credit you. The credit amount depends on how far below the SLA they fell.

"Is there a free tier for Azure?"

Yes. Azure offers a free account with $200 credit for 30 days, plus 12 months of popular services free (limited usage), plus 55+ services that are always free within certain limits. It's enough to study for the AZ-900 hands-on without spending a cent.

Azure governance: keeping things under control

Large organisations can't let every developer create whatever they want in Azure. Governance is how you enforce rules, track compliance, and control access. The exam tests these concepts heavily:

The golden rule the exam loves: RBAC controls WHO can do things. Azure Policy controls WHAT can be done. They work together but serve different purposes.

Azure identity: who are you and what can you do?

Identity is the new security perimeter. Azure uses Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory / Azure AD) as its identity platform. Here's what the exam expects you to know:

The exam loves Conditional Access scenarios. If a question describes a situation where access should depend on location, device, risk level, or user role — Conditional Access is almost always the answer.

Your study plan: 1 to 3 weeks

Here's a realistic study plan depending on your starting point:

If you're new to cloud (3 weeks)

If you have cloud experience (1-2 weeks)

The free Microsoft Learn path

Microsoft provides a free, self-paced learning path specifically for the AZ-900. It's the single best study resource:

• Azure Fundamentals: Describe cloud concepts — cloud models, shared responsibility, service types
• Azure Fundamentals: Describe Azure architecture and services — regions, availability zones, compute, storage, networking
• Azure Fundamentals: Describe Azure management and governance — cost management, governance, identity, compliance

Each path takes 2-4 hours. The total is roughly 8-12 hours of content. Combined with practice exams, most people need 15-25 hours total to pass.

Five exam-day tips that actually matter

1. Read every word. Microsoft questions are precise. The difference between "most cost-effective" and "fastest to deploy" changes the correct answer entirely.

2. Eliminate obviously wrong answers first. Most questions have one answer that's clearly wrong, one that's tempting but off, and two that are close. Get rid of the obvious ones and your odds jump from 25% to 50%.

3. Watch for "shared responsibility model" traps. The exam loves asking what's your responsibility vs. Microsoft's. Rule of thumb: Microsoft handles physical security, power, and the host infrastructure. You handle your data, access management, and application configuration. The middle ground (OS patching, network controls) depends on whether you're using IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS.

4. Flag and move on. You can flag questions and come back. If a question is taking more than 90 seconds, flag it. You have roughly 1.5-2 minutes per question — don't burn 5 minutes on one.

5. "All of the above" is rarely correct; "it depends" often is. Many AZ-900 questions test whether you know that the right tool depends on the scenario. If an answer says "always use X," it's probably wrong.

Back to that Monday morning message

Your VP asked for volunteers. You now know that the AZ-900 covers cloud concepts, Azure architecture, and management and governance — three domains you can learn in 15-25 hours of focused study using Microsoft's free learning path. You know the exam has 40-60 questions, gives you 85 minutes, and requires a 700/1000 to pass. You know Azure VMs are IaaS, App Service is PaaS, and Azure Functions are serverless. You know that RBAC controls who, Azure Policy controls what, and Resource Locks prevent accidental destruction. You know that Conditional Access is the answer to almost every "secure sign-in" scenario question. And you know you can get the exam voucher for free by attending a Microsoft Virtual Training Day. You reply to the Slack message: "I'm in."

Key takeaways

• The AZ-900 is a 40-60 question exam with an 85-minute time limit and a 700/1000 passing score. No coding or prerequisites required.
• Azure architecture and services is the heaviest domain at 35-40% of the exam. Know your VMs, App Service, Functions, Blob Storage, SQL Database, and Cosmos DB.
• Azure management tools range from visual (Portal) to scriptable (CLI/PowerShell) to infrastructure-as-code (ARM templates/Bicep). Know which tool fits which scenario.
• Pricing hierarchy: Tenant → Management Groups → Subscriptions → Resource Groups → Resources. Every resource must live in a Resource Group.
• Governance tools: Azure Policy controls what can be done. RBAC controls who can do it. Blueprints package policies for new subscriptions. Resource Locks prevent accidental deletion.
• Identity: Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) handles authentication. MFA adds a second factor. Conditional Access makes context-dependent access decisions.
• Study plan: 1-3 weeks, 15-25 hours total. Use the free Microsoft Learn path and take at least 3 practice exams before test day.