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Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102)

The Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) certification is being retired. Get the team certified now, or plan the move to Microsoft training, with a CBT Nuggets demo.

Microsoft is retiring the Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) certification on . Plan the transition now — see Microsoft training.

Book a DemoAll Microsoft certs
1
Course
1
Practice exam
5
Core skills
$165
Exam fee (Microsoft)
Microsoft Azure / 365 admin team at workstations with PowerShell and identity consoles
Difficulty
Difficulty: 3 of 5 (Moderate)
Moderate
Exam fee (Microsoft)
$165
Courses on path
1
Official source
Microsoft’s official exam page
Exam code
  • MS-102

Exam datasheet

Prerequisites
None
Recommended experience
Familiarity with Microsoft Intune and basic understanding of cloud services
Recertification
1 year
Testing center

Exams

Exams for this certification

Exam fees per engineer, paid to the exam vendor$165

Exam — Required

Every engineer on the Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) path takes MS-102.

  1. MS-102Microsoft 365 AdministratorRetiring Practice exam included on every Teams seat
    Exam fee
    $165
    Exam length
    100 minutes
    Questions
    40-60
    Passing score
    700

    Exam blueprint: MS-102

Skills your team builds

Device ManagementMobile Device Management (MDM)Cloud ServicesSecurity PoliciesApplication Management

Training path

Your team's training path

One CBT Nuggets course covers the full Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) path. Your team can start today and have admin reporting visible from day one.

  1. Start here · primary course

    MS-102

    This MS-102 training prepares you to step into the role of a Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert, one of the most respected credentials for senior Microsoft cloud administrators. You’ll sharpen the skills necessary to run and secure modern Microsoft 365 environments with rigorous exam prep, gaining experience with Microsoft Defender XDR and Purview, as well as the automation and identity management capabilities of PowerShell and Microsoft Entra ID. Along the way, you’ll learn how experienced administrators deploy and manage Microsoft 365 tenants, and protect enterprise workloads in cloud and hybrid environments. By the end of this MS-102 training, you’ll be equipped with practical knowledge that you can immediately use as a professional Microsoft 365 administrator.

    James Conrad
    95 videosPractice exam16h
    Open course

Every certification course includes

  • Expert-led video training
  • Certification practice exams
  • Per-team completion reporting

Microsoft career ladder

Where Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) sits in your team's Microsoft progression

The cert your team is on now, plus the levels above and below. Use this to map an engineer's next-step credential or to plan headcount coverage across tiers.

  1. Entry level

    6 certs

    Azure AI Fundamentals (AI-900)

    AI-900

    Azure Data Fundamentals (DP-900)

    DP-900

    Microsoft 365 Certified: Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals (AB-900)

    AB-900

    Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

    AZ-900

    Microsoft Power Platform Fundamentals

    PL-900

    Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals (SC-900)

    SC-900

  2. Associate level

    13 certs

    Azure Database Administrator Associate (DP-300)

    DP-300

    Azure Network Engineer Associate (AZ-700)

    AZ-700

    Azure Security Engineer Associate (AZ-500)

    AZ-500

    Endpoint Administrator Associate (MD-102)

    MD-102

    Exam MO-310: Microsoft PowerPoint (Microsoft 365 Apps)

    MO-310

    Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate (DP-600)

    DP-600

    Identity and Access Administrator Associate (SC-300)

    SC-300

    Microsoft 365 Certified: Collaboration Communications Systems Engineer Associate (MS-721)

    MS-721

    Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate (MS-700)

    MS-700

    Microsoft Azure Administrator

    AZ-104

    Power BI Data Analyst Associate (PL-300)

    PL-300

    Power Platform Functional Consultant Associate (PL-200)

    PL-200

    Security Operations Analyst Associate (SC-200)

    SC-200

  3. Professional level

    10 certs

    AI Business Professional

    AB-730

    AI Transformation Leader

    AB-731

    Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop

    AZ-140

    Designing and Implementing a Microsoft Azure AI Solution

    AI-103

    Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions

    AZ-400

    Exam MO 211: Microsoft Excel Expert (Microsoft 365 Apps)

    MO-211

    Exam MO-110: Microsoft Word (Microsoft 365 Apps)

    MO-110

    Exam MO-210: Microsoft Excel (Microsoft 365 Apps)

    MO-210

    Microsoft Word Expert (Microsoft 365 Apps)

    MO-111

    Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate (AZ-800 & AZ-801)

  4. Expert level

    3 certs

    Cybersecurity Architect Expert (SC-100)

    SC-100

    Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions

    AZ-305

    Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102)

    MS-102

    You are here
Customer outcome

Build MS-102 capability across the whole team, not one engineer

Assign the Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) course to the engineers who need it, and the team report shows who has started, who has finished, and who has passed the practice exam — the view leadership uses to see Microsoft skills coverage across the team and where the gaps are.

See team pricing

Team capability

Make MS-102 a number on your team capability sheet, not a single engineer’s certificate.

Standardizing your team on MS-102 gives leadership a clear picture of Microsoft skills coverage — who has completed the training, who is still on the path, and where the gaps are — so staffing and escalation plans rest on known capability instead of on one engineer.

Credential: Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102)

Exam
  • MS-102

Frequently asked questions about Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) training

Common questions IT directors ask when evaluating Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) training for their team.

How does Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) fit into our internal compliance and governance program?

Teams often cite MS-102 when documenting who is trained to administer Microsoft 365 identity, Purview data loss prevention, information protection and lifecycle policies, and Defender XDR. CBT Nuggets team reporting provides per-learner completion and completion exports that can serve as training evidence. The auditor's control crosswalk decides how the credential formally maps to a given framework.

Who on the team should hold Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102), and what can a certified team own?

IT leaders typically assign MS-102 to the Microsoft 365 administrators who run the tenant day to day. The linked course covers tenant and domain setup, users, groups, licenses, roles and administrative units, Entra Connect Sync and Entra Cloud Sync, and authentication and secure access. A certified team can also own Purview compliance and the Defender stack, including Defender XDR incidents, Defender for Office 365 and Defender for Cloud Apps.

What does CBT Nuggets Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) training include for a team?

CBT Nuggets Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) courses are built by named expert trainers. Where a course includes hands-on virtual labs or a practice exam mapped to Microsoft's published exam objectives, the course list on this page says so. Team admin reporting tracks assignment, completion and exam readiness per engineer — the view managers use to run a team training program.

How do I assign and track Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) training for my team?

From the admin console, managers assign the Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) courses directly to specific engineers or role groups and track completion and practice-exam scores per learner. Team-wide reporting rolls up to a single dashboard you can review or export for leadership reviews or compliance reporting.

How long does it take to certify a team on Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102)?

The linked live courses add up to about 16 hours of video. Total time depends on each engineer's starting point with Entra identity, Purview and Defender administration, so IT leaders usually assign the course with a target date and track completion per learner before engineers schedule the exam.

What if Microsoft updates the Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) exam objectives?

CBT Nuggets updates Microsoft course content as exam objectives refresh, and this page shows the current exam's status and any retirement date the vendor has announced. When Microsoft restructures or renames a track, the assigned training stays aligned with the same team training plan, and the training stays current without anyone losing their progress mid-stream.

Certifying the team before 30 November 2026?

Get every engineer certified before Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) retires

Assign the Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102) courses, see who has finished them in the team report, and plan the move to Microsoft training for the rest of the team.

Book a Demo