The day is November 22nd and early this morning I took part in the AZ-305 Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions (beta) Exam. I am already a certified Azure Solutions Architect however from time to time I like to challenge myself with these new opportunities!
The AZ-305 Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions Exam is one of the two exams required to earn the Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certification. It is aimed at individuals who have advanced experience in designing and implementing Azure infrastructure.
If you do not already know buy taking these Microsoft Beta exams you can get up to 80% off by being one of the first 300 people to sign up! I would not be paying full price to have to wait 8 weeks for the exam results.. yes that is 8 weeks! Microsoft needs to allow all the exam takers to complete their exam, then compile and examine the data to determine any issues with the questions and deliver accurate and fair results for the exam takers! And deliver a better experience for those paying full price!
AZ-305 Exam Info
Candidates for this exam should have advanced experience and knowledge of IT operations, including networking, virtualization, identity, security, business continuity, disaster recovery, data platforms, and governance. A professional in this role should manage how decisions in each area affect an overall solution. In addition, they should have experience in Azure administration, Azure development, and DevOps processes.
The Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification will be earned by completing the following requirements:
- Earn the Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification and pass Exam AZ-305 or
- Pass Exam AZ-303 (before it retires on March 31, 2022) and Exam AZ-305
There are currently multiple paths you can take to earn the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification. These are:
- Earning the Azure Administrator Associate Certification and passing the AZ-305 Exam
- Passing the AZ-303 and AZ-304 Exam before March 31st 2022
- Passing the AZ-303 before it expires and passing the AZ-305 Exam
My AZ-305 Exam Feedback
This exam was tough… I do not seem to remember the previous Azure Architect exams being this difficult, that may be done to my lack of study or the length of time since I took the last exams.
If you are familiar with taking Microsoft Exams, and I expect you are if you are looking to take the AZ-305, you should know nothing has changed with how the exam is delivered. You can expect to follow a standard exam format, not that I can explain what that is, but if you are familiar you should know.
As for the content in the exam, it is not anything you wouldn’t expect. It may be a little more modern of a take on scenarios and concepts than the previous exam, which would make sense of course. But it does cover most of the skills breakdown found on the exam registration page:
- Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions (25-30%)
- Design data storage solutions (25-30%)
- Design business continuity solutions (10-15%)
- Design infrastructure solutions (25-30%)
AZ-305 Study
Being fairly frank here, I did no specific study for this exam. I praise myself however for always staying on top of Azure news, watching content from John Savill, reading case studies, and lurking in the Azure subreddit daily. Of course, I do have some recommendations on where to start on revising for the AZ-305 Exam.
It is worth noting that in my currently daily job role I provide pre-sales Azure solution design and implementation, so I am no stranger to using Azure.
Read the Skills Measured document provided by Microsoft here: https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RWLFRU It outlines everything covered in the exam. You don’t need to be an expert on every line in the document, but knowing a little bit of everything will help you apply that service to a scenario in the exam. You can copy and paste each line into Google and do a little reading. Yes, there are ‘Study Guides’ out there, but trawling through content to find what you need will help you in the long run. If someone has done the hard work for you, you will just forget the easy bits!
Enjoy the AZ-305 Exam Learning Paths Free from Microsoft. The AZ-305 Exam learning paths are finally on Microsoft Learn, check them out here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/browse/?terms=az-305. I say ‘Enjoy’ the learning paths as you are truly (or at least are very not likely) going to pass this exam if you are not enjoying learning Azure.
Read Books! I didn’t realise how much this would help until while working I randomly remember information I have read which greatly helps me make decisions on including certain technologies into my Azure designs. Some books have also greatly helped me during exams over time. I have documented a collection of my favourite books in my Complete Azure Training and Online Learning Guide.
Make Azure your life! Well maybe not literally, no need to cover your office walls in posters or get a tattoo. But going back to enjoying Azure, you need that automatic drive to want to learn. You don’t have to be sitting at your desk every day, but join communities, offer advice and speak to people about Azure. There are plenty of discussions on the Microsoft Azure Forums, Discord Groups, and Subreddits you can get involved in right away.
Summary
Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I hope you are a little more motivated or confident in taking the AZ-305 exam yourself and becoming a Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect Expert!
