People often ask me how I keep up with the changing world of technology. Where it can a lot at times, a combination of reading, researching, networking, self-study, on-the-job experience and formal training keeps me in the know. When my program at work was going to move from proprietary Web hosting to Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, I needed to understand enough to work with it. Using a combination of methods mentioned above I dove into the Azure pool head-first to immerse myself in this new ecosystem.

In the course of my research I found Azure certifications, where self-study and courses verified by an exam would yield a qualification stating my knowledge in an area of Azure. The most basic level is Azure Fundamentals, or AZ-900 as the exam is called. As most technology certifications are from software vendors, I felt this was a great place to start. To prepare for the course, I went thru some online training from Microsoft and picked up a copy of the book Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Exam Ref by Jim Cheshire. As much as I like online, having a tangible book I can go back and forth through was something I was looking forward to.

Reading a test prep reference book is a swim in an ocean takeaways, but there were several meta ones I got from this book.

It was outdated at press – A fun fact is that this is the second edition and second copy of the book I have owned. The first, I found out, was already out of date when I bought it. I gave that to a colleague who was somewhat new to working hands-on with Azure. As the platform is constantly changing and adding new features it’s hard to have a current print book.

A different approach to software development – Azure isn't just cloud hosting. It also includes the ability to integrate what are commonly referred to as micro-service applications. To the non-techie, this means that rather than writing code from scratch to send and receive text messages, for example, you can simply use such a service that Azure offers. And of course, you pay Microsoft for that usage. Where it makes for smaller codebases for applications, you are also deeply hooked into the Microsoft cloud architecture.

I don’t need Azure certification – After reading the book, and coupled with the other resources available to me, I realized I didn't need the certification. Sure, I could have spent even more hours and studied and taken the exam (for a fee) but for how I will use my knowledge of Azure it wouldn't be the best use of my time. Rather than knowing how to implement and configure Azure Front Door, I simply need to know it exists and what its purpose is.

More and more technicians have a need to learn about Azure cloud - and other cloud services such as Amazon Web Services, or AWS - as more and more companies are moving to the cloud from their on-premise data centers. Therefore the need exists for training and certification. This exam prep book covered it all - at that time - and if anything, subsequent editions will include changes to the platform. If you are into consuming information in book format, I highly recommend this reference guide.

As I passed along the last copy I had of this book to a colleague at work, I am doing the same to another colleague at work who is also getting immersed into Azure. Between their deep knowledge and my strategic knowledge I know we will build great technical solutions together.

This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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