New to Azure

• What is Azure?
  Microsoft Azure official website
  
  
• I’m new to Azure, how do I get started?
  This blog post will provide you with essential resources to kickstart your learning journey with Microsoft Azure.
  
  
• Azure Crazy
  Discover how existing users of Azure started their journeys. A site including written interviews from Microsoft Azure experts.
  
  
• List of Azure Blogs
  A list of Azure Blogs written by people supporting the technical community.
  
  
  

Learning resources

• Microsoft Learn
  Microsoft Learn is a free, online training platform that provides interactive learning for Microsoft products and more.
  
  
• Free Azure E-books
  Deepen your understanding of cloud computing with analyst publications, guides, and infographics for technical professionals and business leaders.
  
  
• Channel 9/Learn Live
  Presenting Microsoft Learn content Live. Every episode Microsoft choose a Learn module and work through it. They pull in guests to give you extra commentary from experts and sometimes even the engineers who built it. Join and ask questions, live!
  
  
• Azure Friday
  Join Scott Hanselman, Donovan Brown, or Lara Rubbelke as they host the engineers who build Azure, demo it, answer questions, and share insights.
  
  
• Azure Tuesday
  Corey Sanders answers your questions about Microsoft Azure – Virtual Machines, Web Sites, Mobile Services, Dev/Test etc. If you have a question, Corey will find the answer!
  
  
• Azure Blog
  Stay up to date with the latest Azure news via the Azure Blog
  
  
• Microsoft Learning Rooms
  A space to find connections with experts and peers. Facilitated by Microsoft Learn experts from Microsoft and from the technical community outside of Microsoft. Learning rooms are designed to offer you a dedicated and safe environment where you can directly engage with an expert and dive deep into topic-specific questions via asynchronous discussions and virtual sessions.
  
  
• Plural Sight
  Pluralsight offers courses on everything “Azure” – from cloud application development, to cloud infrastructure, to cloud security and much more.
  
  
• Udemy
  Udemy is an online learning and teaching marketplace with over 185000 courses and 49 million students. The site includes a large number of Azure related training, free and courses at affordable rates.
  
  
• LinkedIn Learning
  Training courses on LinkedIn Learning provide you with the skills you need, from the fundamentals to advanced tips.
  
  
• Azure Community Support (Forums)
  Ask your Azure technical questions, find answers, and get Azure support provided by Microsoft engineers, community experts, and validated by customers.
  
  
  
  Exam preparation resources
  
  
• Preparing for a Microsoft Certification by Sarah Kong
  In this blog post, Sarah Kong (Microsoft Technical Trainer) will guide you through the simple, three-step study process that she recommends —read (understand the materials), do (learn experientially), and test (check your knowledge).
  
  
• What to expect on your Microsoft exam by Liberty Munson
  Join Liberty Munson, as she talks about preparing for and taking a Microsoft technical exam.
  
  
• Exam Readiness Zone
  Join experts as they provide tips, tricks, and strategies for preparing for a Microsoft Certification exam. The exam prep videos will help you identify the key knowledge and skills measured on the exam and how to allocate your study time.
  
  
• Free Practice Assessments
  Are you preparing for a Microsoft Certification exam? Check out these Practice Assessments on Microsoft Learn, a free exam preparation resource that allows you to assess your knowledge and fill knowledge gaps so that you are better prepared for your certification exam.
  
  
• Microsoft Exam FAQ
  Find out how Microsoft exams are structured
  
  
• Microsoft Exam Sandbox
  Are you new to Microsoft Certification exams? Not sure what to expect? We have just the thing to help you become familiar with the question types that you may see on the exam, how to navigate the user interface, and much more.
  
  
• Course Blueprints by Ilan Nyska
  The Course Blueprint is a comprehensive visual guide to the Azure ecosystem, integrating all the resources, tools, structures, and connections covered in a course into one inclusive diagram. It enables students to map out and understand the elements they’ve studied.
  
  
• Applied Skills Credentials (Announced October 2023): Applied Skills Credentials is a new verifiable credential that validates that you have the targeted skills needed to implement critical projects aligned to business goals and objectives. At the time of writing, there are 30 individual credentials available for you take for free in a lab based and open book setup. Upon passing you’ll receive a globally recognised certification which you can add to your LinkedIn profile or CV.
  
  
  
  YouTube
  
  
• Microsoft Azure YouTube
  Learn about the latest products & solutions, watch training demos, and discover technical insights relevant to you. Invent with purpose with Microsoft Azure.
  
  
• Microsoft Mechanics
  Mechanics is Microsoft’s official video series for IT Pros, Solution Architects, Developers, and Tech Enthusiasts.
  
  
• John Savill’s Technical Training
  A curated set of free learning videos from John Savill and other free resources to help you master Azure. (Not a Microsoft channel)
  
  
• Andy Malone
  Andy, an MVP (Microsoft Most Valuable Professional) provides free YouTube content related to Microsoft 365, Azure, Windows 365, SharePoint, Exchange Online, Microsoft Teams and more.
  
  
• Merill Fernando
  Videos covering all things Entra ID
  
  
• Thomas Maurer
  Channel run by Thomas Maurer covering Microsoft Azure related content.
  
  
• IamITGeek
  Channel run by Shabaz Darr, who shares free content about Microsoft technologies.
  
  
• Dean Ellerby
  A mixture of Microsoft Intune Training Content and Microsoft Security Training Content.
  
  
• Peter Rising
  The content includes demos, deep dives, tips and tricks, and exam guides.
  
  
• Travis Roberts
  Microsoft MVP Travis Roberts runs a YouTube channel where he provides free Azure content.
  
  
• Azure Academy
  Dean Cefola (Principle Fast Track Azure engineer) provides free Azure content via his YouTube channel Azure Academy.
  
  
• Adam Stuart
  Adam, a Principal Specialist (Azure Networking at Microsoft) publishes free content related to Azure Networking on his personal YouTube channel.
  
  
• Microsoft Trainer Community Channel
  Microsoft Trainer Community YouTube channel
  
  
  
  Useful links/tools
  
  

• Azure Certifications Poster
  A poster detailing various Microsoft certs organised into role based, speciality and fundamentals
  

• Azure global infrastructure experience
  A 3D interactive adventure to experience the reach of the sustainable, trusted infrastructure of Microsoft Azure’s cloud platform.
  
  
• Azure Updates
  Get the latest updates on Azure products and features to meet your cloud investment needs. Subscribe to notifications to stay informed.
  
  
• Azure Status
  View issues that might be impacting your services
  
  
  
• Microsoft Azure Twitter
  The official Twitter account for Microsoft Azure. Follow for the latest news from the Azure team and community.
  

• Azure Quickstart Templates
  Deploy Azure resources through the Azure Resource Manager with community contributed templates to get more done. Deploy, learn, fork and contribute back.
  
  
• Azure Charts
  Live visual exploration environment for Azure Cloud + ecosystem (non-Microsoft site)
  
  
• Azure Speed Test
  Measuring the latency from your web browser to the Blob Storage Service in each of the Microsoft Azure Data Centers. The latency times are indicative only, and do not represent the maximum performance achievable from Microsoft Azure. Use this website purely as a tool to gauge which Azure Data Center could be the best for your location. (Non-Microsoft site)
  
  
• Azure SLA
  Service-level agreements (SLAs) describe Microsoft’s commitments for uptime and connectivity
  
  
• Azure Calculator
  Calculate your estimated hourly or monthly costs for using Azure.
  
  
• Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Calculator
  Estimate the cost savings you can realize by migrating your workloads to Azure
  
  
• Azure Architecture Center
  Guidance for architecting solutions on Azure using established patterns and practices.
  
  
• Azure architecture icons
  On this page you will find an official collection of Azure architecture icons including Azure product icons to help you build a custom architecture diagram for your next solution.
  
  
• Cloud Adoption Framework
  Proven guidance and best practices that help you confidently adopt the cloud and achieve business outcomes.
  
  
• Microsoft Azure Well-Architected Framework
  The Azure Well-Architected Framework is a set of guiding tenets that can be used to improve the quality of a workload.
  
  
• Azure subscription and service limits, quotas, and constraints
  This document lists some of the most common Microsoft Azure limits, which are also sometimes called quotas.
  
  
• Azure Migrate
  Get all the Azure migration tools and guidance you need to plan and implement your move to the cloud—and track your progress using a central dashboard that provides intelligent insights.
  
  
• Azure Site Recovery
  Deploy replication, failover, and recovery processes through Site Recovery to help keep your applications running during planned and unplanned outages.
  
  
• Ready to use Entra ID Templates
  Use these customisable posters, training, stickers, and email templates to roll out or communicate Azure Active Directory features in your organisation.
  
  
• cmd.ms
  Are you tired of clicking around in Microsoft portals to get to a blade? Use the power of your browser’s address bar to quickly get to your favorite blade in Azure, Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Intune…
  
  
• Azure Diagrams
  The Architecture Advisor tool enables you to design diagrams in a collaborative manner and provides guidance on which services can be integrated and when they should be utilized in your architecture.
  
  
• Identity PowerToys
  idPowerToys is a collection of mini-apps for Microsoft Entra Azure Active Directory.
  
  App 1 Conditional Access Documenter: Share you policies with security teams and stakeholders without giving admin access to Azure Active Directory.
  
  App 2 Azure Active Directory Mind Map: The Azure Active Directory Mind Map is a visual representation of the Azure Active Directory service. It is a great way to learn about the Microsoft Identity platform and how it works.
  
  
• Maester
  Maester comes with a collection of ready to use tests to help you get started with validating your Azure tenant’s security configuration.
  
  
• Entra News
  With over 10,000 subscribers, Entra.News is the go-to newsletter for the latest updates & expert insights on Microsoft Entra. Curated from top sources like Microsoft & MVPs, it’s trusted by IT Pros & enterprise security teams worldwide to stay ahead in identity & access management.
  
  
  
• 365 Maps – A collection of Microsoft 365 licensing diagrams to help you understand Microsoft Azure and 365 licensing
  
  
• Microsoft Graph Explorer – Microsoft Graph Explorer is useful for developers who want to explore the capabilities of Microsoft Graph and test their app scenarios. Microsoft Graph is a unified API endpoint that provides access to data and intelligence from Microsoft 365 services such as Outlook, OneDrive, Teams, SharePoint, and more. Use Graph Explorer to try the APIs on the default sample tenant to explore capabilities, or sign in to your own tenant and use it as a prototyping tool to fulfill your app scenarios.
  
  
• jwt.ms – this is a web application that allows you to enter a JSON Web Token (JWT) and view its decoded contents. This should be used for validation and debugging purposes only, developers can decode JWTs using this site.
  
  
• IDFix – The IdFix tool provides you the ability to query, identify, and remediate the majority of object synchronisation errors in your Window’s Server AD forests in preparation for deployment to Microsoft 365/Entra ID synchronisation.
  
  
• Microsoft 365 Developer Program – Join the Microsoft 365 Developer program and get access to 25 Entra ID P2 licenses. Visit the link for further details.
  Update: new registrations are not being accepted at the moment
  
  
• Visual Subnet Calculator (Azure Edition)
  Plan your virtual network on Microsoft Azure.
  
  
  

If you know of any useful resources, please get in touch or leave a comment below. Thanks

Note: This is a personal blog. Views are mine and not that of my employer.