Microsoft has restructured its Azure certifications into a role-based model that it states will more directly focus on the building of skills and knowledge aligned to job roles. This change was made after engaging their tech community and identifying what is required to support those job roles. The modifications to the certifications have been in beta since September 2018, with effective release dates for the exams between December 2018 and May 2019.
The new role-based certifications are split into three tiers of designation, each of which earns you a different level of Microsoft certification:
Fundamentals
Pass the AZ-900 exam
Associate
Pass the AZ-103 exam
or
Pass the AZ-203 exam
or
Pass the AZ-100 exam
or
Pass the DP-100 and DP-200 exams
Expert
Pass the AZ-300 and AZ-301 exams
or
Pass the AZ-400 exam
And there currently are seven Azure based certifications spread across these three levels. All of these are new certifications, not refreshes of previous Azure certifications:
Microsoft Certified Azure Fundamentals (Fundamentals)
Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator (Associate)
Microsoft Certified Azure Developer (Associate)
Microsoft Certified Azure AI Engineer Associate (Associate)
Microsoft Certified Azure Data Engineer Associate (Associate)
Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect (Expert)
Microsoft Certified Azure DevOps (Expert)
All of the exams supporting each of these certifications are entirely new. Those exams supporting what are now retired Azure certifications are not applicable to these certifications (70-532, 70-533, 70-535).
Fundamental and Associate level certifications do not have prerequisites. You can earn each without needing the certifications or exams from another
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