What is AZ-900?
The AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals is the entry-level certification for the Azure ecosystem. It is designed for people with little or no technical cloud knowledge who want to demonstrate understanding of fundamental concepts.
You do not need previous technical experience. It suits technology students, business professionals working with technical teams and anyone wanting to start a cloud career.
The exam assesses whether you understand what each service does and when to use it, rather than your ability to operate Azure.
Exam domains
Cloud concepts (25–30 %)
- What cloud computing is and its characteristics
- Cloud models: public, private, hybrid
- Service models: IaaS, PaaS, SaaS
- Benefits: high availability, scalability, elasticity, agility, disaster recovery
- Shared responsibility model
Azure architecture and services (35–40 %)
- Regions, region pairs, availability zones
- Resources, resource groups, subscriptions, management groups
- Compute: virtual machines, containers, AKS, App Service, Azure Functions
- Storage: Blob, Queue, Table, Files, redundancy types
- Networking: VNet, VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute, Azure DNS, Azure Firewall
- Identity: Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory), authentication, SSO, MFA
Azure management and governance (30–35 %)
- Costs: pricing calculator and Microsoft Cost Management; TCO is a retired tool.
- Management tools: Azure Portal, CLI, PowerShell, Bicep, ARM Templates
- Azure Policy and RBAC (role-based access control)
- Security: Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Azure Key Vault, Zero Trust
- Compliance: Microsoft Purview, Service Trust Portal
- Monitoring: Azure Monitor, Service Health, Azure Advisor
Important updates for 2025–2026
Azure Active Directory was renamed Microsoft Entra ID in 2023. The exam already uses the new name. If you study material predating that change, remember that AAD and Microsoft Entra ID are the same service.
Azure Blueprints was retired in July 2026. It is no longer part of the active syllabus. Governance at scale is now covered through Azure Policy combined with RBAC and management groups.
Azure free account
Microsoft offers a free account with USD 200 in credit for 30 days, more than 55 services free for 12 months and a set of always-free service allowances with limits. This supports practice for exam scenarios.
Create your account at azure.microsoft.com/free.
Recommended study path
Week 1 — Cloud concepts and architecture
- Service and deployment models, shared responsibility
- Regions, availability zones, resource hierarchy
Week 2 — Core services
- Compute (VMs, containers, serverless), storage, networking
- Microsoft Entra ID: identity, authentication, access
Week 3 — Security, governance and costs
- Defender for Cloud, Key Vault, Zero Trust
- Azure Policy, RBAC, Cost Management, Azure Advisor
Week 4 — Revision and mock exam
- Official Microsoft Learn practice assessment
- Review scenarios asking “which service would you use for…?”
Resources
- Official AZ-900 path on Microsoft Learn — free and available in Spanish
- Azure free account — practice environment
- Official AZ-900 study guide — detailed exam objectives
- Cheat Sheet AZ-900 — review of concepts and key differences.
- AZ-900 practice test — 250 educational questions with explanations and official sources, reviewed on October 18, 2026. Includes store, warehouse and company scenarios, with single-choice, multiple-choice, yes/no and matching questions. The latest expansion adds 96 original questions checked against Microsoft Learn.
Exam tips
- Distinguish IaaS / PaaS / SaaS by responsibility: the exam presents scenarios and asks which model fits best.
- Entra ID ≠ on-premises Active Directory: Entra ID is a cloud identity service, not a Windows Server domain.
- Do not memorize exact prices: the exam assesses cost concepts (CapEx vs OpEx, pricing factors), not specific figures.
- Understand the resource hierarchy: management group → subscription → resource group → resource. It underpins governance and policies.
- Practice in the portal: creating a resource group and a VM, and exploring Cost Management, provides real context for answering scenario questions.