The terms "development" and "operations," compressed into the word DevOps, refer to a method for developing agile software. There are many variations because the procedure is so simplified.
Due to its focus on quick development cycles, improved security (through DevSecOps), and quick and easy scalability of software projects, the DevOps methodology has grown in popularity.
For these reasons, if a business wants to ensure that it continues to grow and succeed, it must adopt the DevOps culture.
In this article, we will explain what Azure DevOps is and how it works, and define the steps necessary to become an Azure DevOps Certified Engineer.
What is Azure DevOps?
Microsoft's Azure DevOps is a SaaS (Software as a Service) platform that offers a full suite of DevOps tools for creating and releasing software. As a bonus, it is compatible with the most popular products, making it a good choice for coordinating a DevOps suite of programs.
With the help of Azure DevOps, the software can be developed in an environment that encourages and facilitates teamwork between programmers, project managers, and other contributors. Organizations can now create and enhance products faster than before with more conventional approaches to software creation.
The cloud and an on-premises server are available with Azure DevOps Services. Azure DevOps's capabilities are interconnected, and you may use them from any IDE client or web browser. All of the public services in Azure DevOps can be used as-is, or you can pick and choose the ones you need.
How to Become an Azure DevOps Certified Engineer
DevOps engineers are software engineers or system administrators with specialized knowledge in coordinating people, processes, and products to ensure the organization can reliably and continuously deliver value to its customers.
Collaboration, compliance, code, continuous integration, infrastructure, security, source control, testing, delivery, monitoring, and feedback are all aspects of this position's responsibilities. DevOps engineers collaborate on multidisciplinary teams with other professionals, including programmers, QA testers, and Azure system administrators.
Candidates for this certification should have solid Azure DevOps training in either Azure administration or Azure development. Both Azure DevOps and GitHub have to be second nature to them.
DevOps engineer expert certification applicants are advised to study the subject's fundamentals to develop people skills, familiarity with various procedures, and facility with multiple technologies. You can try out a reputable Azure DevOps tutorial.
All these fundamental facets of knowledge will aid people in using Azure DevOps to increase the outcomes' commercial worth. Candidates for the Microsoft Azure DevOps Engineer Expert certification must also demonstrate expertise in Azure Administration and Azure Development.
How to get an Azure DevOps Engineer Expert Certification
You must be aware of the fact that there are particular specifications that you are required to understand and complete before you can move forward with this certification.
You must take the AZ-400 test to gain the Azure DevOps Certification for Engineer Expert. If you pass this test, you will receive the certification. There are also necessary skills you must possess.
You will only need to pass a single exam-based certification to earn the necessary expert engineer certificate. However, to be considered for the AZ-400 position, some requirements or preconditions are required as a matter of priority.
There are two certifications available, and you need to be working toward or already possess at least one of them to be eligible to apply to take the AZ-400 test.
The Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate and the Microsoft Certified Azure Developer Associate certifications are available to candidates as elective options. If you want to move on with the process of acquiring the expert DevOps engineer certification, you may choose to pursue either one of the certifications or both of them.
Azure Developer Associate (AZ-204)
This certification does not have any prerequisites you must meet. So, you are familiar with the fundamental concepts involved in monitoring and running the Azure environment of a business. In that case, you should pursue this chance to become certified as an Azure Administrator Associate.
Obtaining this certification will give you the knowledge necessary to understand how to deploy an enterprise's cloud infrastructure inside the Azure environment. In addition, you will know about the monitoring of identities, computing, storage, governance resource changes, and other similar solutions.
This certification will provide you with the skills and knowledge necessary to function as an administrator of an Azure environment integrated within a company. Therefore, if you want to work as an Azure DevOps Engineer, you should acquire the abilities necessary to work as an Azure Administrator. It is an essential requirement.
Candidates for the Azure Developer Associate certification should be familiar with the planning, developing, managing, and testing of various Azure cloud services and applications.
Those with this credential are expected to participate in all phases of cloud-based development within a business. These phases include planning and prototyping to deploying and maintaining. They are also responsible for keeping tabs on performance and making adjustments as needed.
Keeping an eye on the solutions' viability is the responsibility of the Azure Developers, who must collaborate with cloud architects, administrators, cloud DBAs, and customers.
Those seeking the Azure Developer Associate credential should have worked as developers for at least a year or two before taking the exam. In addition, you'll need substantial practical experience with Microsoft Azure to qualify for this certification.
It's a tall order to meet all the prerequisites for this certification, one of which is fluency in a programming language that Azure officially supports. The development elements should be well-versed in the Azure Command Line Interface (CLI), Azure PowerShell, Azure Software Development Kits (SDKs), data storage, and communications.
The Azure DevOps Engineer Expert certification requires extensive knowledge of Azure, and the Developer Associate Certification provides this knowledge.
Certification as either an Azure Developer Associate or an Azure Administrator Associate requires passing exams that test one's technical skills. Passing these exams requires no prerequisites; however, with familiarity with Azure, passing will be easy.
For this reason, getting the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) certification will help you learn the fundamentals of Azure. It will provide you with the knowledge and skills necessary to pursue and achieve any level of certification systematically.
Microsoft Certification Exam AZ-400: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions
After completing any of the two prerequisite certifications, you'll be ready to sit for the AZ-400 test and get your Azure DevOps Engineer Expert credential.
Candidates for this test should know how various technologies may be applied in Azure settings to benefit businesses. This test has a high need for background knowledge. Because of this, it is in your best interest to study as thoroughly as possible for the major certification exam.
To pass this exam, you must demonstrate proficiency in performing various technical operations typical of a DevOps team working on Azure.
They Include:
- Develop instrumentation strategy
- Develop SRE strategy (Site Reliability Engineering Strategy)
- Prepare a plan for compliance and security
- Promote collaboration and communication
- Implement CD and CI, among others.
Passing this test will need you to become an expert in many more areas, including those listed above. Microsoft's certification test costs USD 165. Dates for taking the test may be found on the official website.
If you pass the required score, Microsoft will certify you as an expert DevOps engineer. With this professional credential in your possession, the possibilities are practically limitless.
Job Market Prospects for Azure DevOps Engineers
Acquiring your Azure DevOps Engineer certification requires much study and practice. This education provides the tools you need to succeed in various Azure positions.
An Azure DevOps Engineer's value to a business lies in their ability to perform all critical and technical duties inside the Azure platform. As a result, companies in the public and private sectors and multinational corporations are looking for more people with this skill set.
Certified Azure DevOps engineers can choose from various job titles that provide competitive salaries. The following are examples of such job market labels:
Azure Administrator
An Azure Administrator's job is crucial since they are the ones that monitor the health of an organization's Azure infrastructure. The administrator's responsibilities will include checking in on setup, configuration, and regular function monitoring. In addition, they should keep the whole system operating in harmony at all times.
Azure Developer
Developers that work with Microsoft's Azure platform create and release software in this cloud service. A DevOps Engineer Expert certification is a bonus, as is an Azure Developer Associate certification if you're looking for work in this field.
Azure DevOps Engineer
Engineers that specialize in DevOps work to unite people, tools, and procedures to serve customers better and help them achieve their business objectives. Azure DevOps Engineers will supervise the entire process, from planning and design to construction and execution. In addition, the Azure Environment calls for them to deal with virtual machines, network design, and storage options.
Conclusion
Choosing to sit for the Microsoft Azure DevOps Engineer Expert certification is a good idea. It's a great career choice if you are looking to qualify for higher-paying career options, working for clients looking to accrue the benefits of outsourcing DevOps.
Earning this certification can open up a world of possibilities if you want to build, manage, monitor, and maintain an app or service on Microsoft's acclaimed Azure platform. Check out this link to learn about AWS DevOps Certification.
