Updated 2020-06-25!

As Microsoft progresses it’s new strategy of role based certification, they are constantly updating the exams required for certification. As the Azure Administrator Role was the first to launch back in 2018, it’s no surprise to see it being updated again. If you’re interested in the exam, here is what Microsoft have to say about it:

The Azure Administrator implements, manages, and monitors identity, governance, storage, compute, and virtual networks in a cloud environment. The Azure Administrator will provision, size, monitor, and adjust resources as appropriate. Candidates should have a minimum of six months of hands-on experience administering Azure. Candidates should have a strong understanding of core Azure services, Azure workloads, security, and governance. Candidates for this exam should have experience in using PowerShell, the Command Line Interface, Azure Portal, and ARM templates.

As the exam is still in beta, if you take it, it will not be scored immediately. However, if you pass the exam, it will count towards certification and you will receive a Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification.

As always, a great place to start is Microsoft Learn. There are several interactive learning paths that are free that you can work through at your own pace. I find this a great way to study and gain greater understanding of the services by actually using them and you will need to have used Azure to pass this exam.

Below I’ve put together a collection of links relevant to the sections Microsoft have highlighted as being part of the skills measured for this exam. These are only guide links, sometimes you need to explore a topic much more deeply if you are not familiar with it. Hopefully these study materials will help guide you to successfully passing AZ-104!

Manage Azure identities and governance (15-20%)

Manage Azure AD objects

Manage role-based access control (RBAC)

Manage subscriptions and governance

Implement and manage storage (10-15%)

Manage storage accounts

Manage data in Azure Storage

Configure Azure files and Azure blob storage

Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (25-30%)

Configure VMs for high availability and scalability

Automate deployment and configuration of VMs

Create and configure VMs

Create and configure containers

Create and configure Web Apps

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/app-service/overview (pick any language, go a bit deeper)

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/app-service/overview-hosting-plans

Reminder, web apps only, not Functions

Configure and manage virtual networking (30-35%

Implement and manage virtual networking

Configure name resolution

Secure access to virtual networks

Configure load balancing

Monitor and troubleshoot virtual networking

Integrate an on-premises network with an Azure virtual network

Monitor and back up Azure resources (10-15%)Manage Identities

Monitor resources by using Azure Monitor

Implement backup and recovery