AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner vs Microsoft Azure AZ-900 Exam

One way to boost your career in the cloud computing space is through certifications. These exams will help validate your current understanding and knowledge in the cloud. Cloud service providers offer different learning paths such as Cloud Architect, Cloud Developer, and Cloud Administrator. 

Both AWS and Microsoft have introductory certifications that will test your understanding of the basics. AWS has what they call the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam, while Microsoft has the AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam. 

In this article, we will discuss the similarities and differences between these two foundation-level certifications.

AWS Cloud Practitioner vs Microsoft Azure AZ-900

As discussed above, both are entry-level certifications that will give you a basic understanding of how the cloud operates and the services to use depending on your customer needs. Those employed in administrative, management, purchasing, marketing, or financial positions are the people who could benefit the most from these certifications. Both the AWS CCP and AZ-900 certifications cost 100 USD, and you can take the exam at the comforts of your home or in a physical test center.

Similarities and Differences

Suppose you are planning to take these two certification exams. Both tests have the same content on cloud concepts such as Elasticity, Agility, Fault Tolerance, Disaster Recovery, CapEx/OpEx, Regions, Availability Zones, and Types of Cloud Computing Models.

The differences between the two from an exam preparation perspective are:

• In AWS Cloud Practitioner, the questions asked are mostly on the commonly used services on domains like compute, storage, network, security, and database. Even though the questions here are more tricky than in Azure, if you know how to differentiate each service, you can easily pass the exam with a high score.
• In Microsoft Azure AZ-900, you need to be familiar with using the Azure Portal and there are unique question types aside from multiple-choice and multiple-answer questions such as Drag and Drop, Dropdown, and Multiple Yes/No. But if you’re familiar with the different cloud concepts and services, you can finish the test in less than 30 minutes because the questions are pretty straightforward.  

Once you understand the use case of each service from one provider, you’ll have no problem relating it with another cloud platform. To help us compare both cloud technology providers, we’ve listed the commonly used services of AWS and Azure.

To have a more in-depth comparison between the most common AWS and Azure services, check out this article: AWS vs Azure Services Comparison.

In this table, you can see the similarities and differences between the two certifications. Both the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner and the Microsoft Azure AZ-900 test you on the same criteria, but with different percentages.

If you want to have hands-on experience while preparing for these certifications, AWS and Azure offer Free Tier Access on their console/portal.

Which of these two technologies should I learn? 

If you’re new to the cloud, you can start your journey by focusing on one cloud platform, although learning both is better since the concepts are pretty much the same, and having knowledge in both will help boost your credentials in the industry. A well-rounded person who is knowledgeable in both AWS and Azure will certainly have an edge in the workplace.

Which one of these certifications should I take?

If you need to understand more about multi-cloud architecture, taking both certifications will help you get started with the basics and enable you to design and deploy cost-effective solutions. Certifications are a great thing to have if you’re transitioning your career towards the cloud, but your experience will matter more in the long run.

References:

https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-cloud-practitioner/
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/az-900