
While most of you were away relaxing, i focused on preparing for my AZ-500 Microsoft Azure Security exam, and what a great way to end 2019, passing this exam was a great achievement.
A few have already asked me what i did to prepare so i would like to take this opportunity to blog about my experience.
First of all, i highly recommend you setup an Azure account if you don’t already have one. You can sign up for an account at Azure Free Account. The exam included labs so research and implement the various security features within the Azure portal.
So what did i do to prepare for my exam? Firstly, I can not stress enough that hands on experience and understanding all Azure security features is an important part for you to pass this exam.
Preparing for the exam:
1) Azure Updates – Keep up to date via the Microsoft Azure updates site
2) Azure Social Media accounts. I follow most Microsoft Azure twitter accounts. A great way to stay up to date with what’s going on with Microsoft Azure.
3) Research what Microsoft recently announced at events such as Microsoft Ignite. There are blog articles available from those who have attended the previous Microsoft Ignite events where new features are announced. I am looking forward to attend the event in London this month 🙂
4) Azure Security course available from udemy.com (Microsoft AZ-500 Certification: Azure Security Technologies by Nick Colyer from Skylines Academy). A really good course and highly recommended.
5) Azure training material available at Plural Sight
6) If you don’t understand something, look it up. There are a ton of Microsoft you tube videos and articles out there which explain the features well. I have lost count, but i did go through a large number of Microsoft videos and articles. You really need to understand what you’re learning. If you’re watching a training video, pause the video and go look up the feature being explained and implement within your test Azure Portal if required.
8) View Azure Security Expert Series
More info on what you will be tested on can be located at Microsoft Azure AZ-500 Exam (The exam format was recently updated so keep an eye on this article)
Overall, i did spend a large number of hours preparing for this exam but the end result was well worth it. I spent about 3 weeks studying, and was working within the Azure Portal everyday. I really enjoyed preparing for this exam and i am sure you will too. All the best