Jumpstart your cloud career with expert-led Azure training designed for all skill levels. Explore on-demand video lessons, interactive virtual labs, and performance-based assessments that prepare you for Microsoft Azure certifications and help you stand out in today’s competitive IT job market.
What is the best Azure certification to get this year? Here are our top five recommendations. These cloud certifications range from entry-level Azure certifications to advanced Azure skills, and span several Azure certification paths and roles. Pick the cert that’s best for your career.
Microsoft makes the Azure certification path pretty clear, with beginner, intermediate, and advanced role-based certifications. Learn Azure with one of these entry-level Azure training courses and validate that knowledge with an Azure certification.
Even if you don’t plan to earn a Microsoft certification, you can learn Azure with expert-led training for beginners. Use these Azure fundamentals courses to learn basics like billing, storage, and more.
Sysadmins with Azure certifications are in-demand. From Azure Active Directory (AD) to advanced storage, this training will help you keep up your skills and progress them into the Azure cloud.
Businesses are either migrating to the cloud, or need to maintain their current cloud services. There’s never been a better time to be a cloud engineer with a few Azure certifications under your belt. These courses will help you learn Azure skills, or get an Azure certification.
SecOps can be a complicated profession — particularly when it comes to cloud security. These courses can walk SecOps engineers through how to store and secure data in Azure and even implement ML/AI into security protocols.
Azure skills can be extremely valuable for network engineers, especially when you’re dealing with hybrid networks or virtualization. Use these Azure training courses to understand how various services work together in modern cloud networking.
Technical analysts are the general practitioners of the IT world. They know a little bit about a lot of things. For tech analysts, learning fundamentals through an Azure training course is the fastest way to get up to speed.
These courses are designed to help you understand Azure fundamentals, the building blocks of a career in the cloud. Azure skills are especially valuable for entry-level IT pros and help desk technicians.
The goal of DevOps is automation — a thing that Azure does exceptionally well. These DevOps courses help any IT pro or DevOps professional learn Azure automation tools.
Databases aren’t kept on-premises anymore. They’re held in the cloud, stored in data blobs, blocks, and objects. With the right Azure training, database administrators can manage their databases without additional overhead using cloud skills.
There are hundreds of Azure services, and many are dedicated to data processing and storage. These courses will help data analysts and data scientists learn Azure for the purpose of engineering machine learning models, AI integration, and data manipulation.
Data scientists have complicated jobs. But the complications can become easier by learning Azure skills. Before jumping into data lakes, data scientists should use this Azure training to understand how to use the full scope of Azure resources for data science.
Microsoft offers Azure developer certifications because it’s the easiest way for developers to verify their expertise. Whether or not you take the exam, these cloud courses will help you get started learning and using Azure.
A good QA engineer knows how to automate as many tasks as possible. These training courses can teach QA testers how to integrate Azure into their testing pipeline — and earn Azure certifications in the process.
Azure certification courses map to the most popular certifications from Microsoft. From fundamental cloud concepts to advanced Azure certifications, CBT Nuggets can help you pass your next Azure exam.
If an Azure certification isn’t your ultimate goal, you can still follow along with these Azure skills courses. Learn how to use the most popular Azure services, and understand Azure well enough to manage cloud migrations, work within an Azure ecosystem, and develop new products on the Azure platform.
The path to certification has never been clearer than with CBT Nuggets’ easy-to-use and results-proven learning platform.
CBT Nuggets is fun, bite-sized training led by experts in the field. I can confidently say that their instructors make learning something to look forward to.
Christopher W. | Technology Support Specialist
Read more reviewsAzure opens up a lot of career paths — which can make it tough to know where to begin. CBT Nuggets offers Azure training for every level, taught by cloud pros, and aligned to the certifications that count.
It depends on your career goals. AWS leads in market share, while Azure is dominant in enterprise and hybrid cloud environments — especially if you're pursuing roles with Microsoft-focused organizations. Azure certifications are ideal if you work in IT infrastructure, Windows Server environments, or want to align with Microsoft 365 and Dynamics. Both offer strong career value, but Azure is often better for those targeting enterprise IT roles.
Most Microsoft Azure certification exams cost $99 to $165 USD depending on the level. Fundamental-level exams like the AZ-900 exam are more affordable, while associate and expert exams like AZ-104 or AZ-305 are at the higher end. Training, practice exams, and labs can greatly boost your success rate and help prevent costly exam retakes.
Microsoft Azure certifications need to be renewed annually, but the renewal process is free and online. You must pass a short assessment to maintain your certification. This keeps your skills up to date with evolving Azure services and features.
No prior cloud experience is required for entry-level Azure training like the AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals. It’s designed for beginners and IT pros transitioning into cloud roles. CBT Nuggets offers step-by-step training to help you build a solid foundation, even if you're new to cloud computing.
It typically takes 4 to 12 weeks to prepare for an Azure certification, depending on your experience and the certification level. Fundamental certifications take less time, while associate or expert tracks may require deeper study. Using focused training and practice labs can help speed up your progress.
The easiest way to start learning Azure is by taking the AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals training. This beginner-friendly course explains key cloud concepts, Azure services, and pricing in plain English. CBT Nuggets also includes interactive quizzes and practice exams to reinforce your skills as you go.
