Simplifying the Certification Path for Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate

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Posted 20 Mar 2019 by Liberty Munson (Microsoft)

Updated March 25, 2019 with v2 of the attached PDF at the bottom of this post; also updated in red on April 8, April 11, April 29, and May 8, 2019

If you haven’t received your vouchers, please contact pvamericascustomerservice@pearson.com.

See also: the related new post from April 29, 2019: Answering Your Questions About AZ-103: Microsoft Azure Administrator Exam

Since launching the role-based certification program in September 2018, we have received a tremendous amount of feedback about the requirements to earn our certifications. As you know, I take this feedback seriously, and after careful consideration, we have decided to modify the certification requirements for Azure Administrator. Starting on May 1, 2019, you will only need to pass one exam—AZ-103: Microsoft Azure Administrator—to earn this certification. This new exam combines the skills covered in AZ-100 and AZ-101, with the majority of the new exam coming from AZ-100.

Here’s what you can expect:

  • If you have taken and passed AZ-100, you will automatically be awarded the Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification on or around May 1, 2019. Congratulations!
  • AZ-100 and AZ-101 will retire on May 1, 2019 at 11:59 PM Central Standard Time. As a result, all exam registrations after May 1, 2019 for AZ-100 and AZ-101 will be cancelled.
  • The Transition exam plan has not changed: to reiterate, if you have passed 70-533, and you pass Transition exam AZ-102, you will earn the Azure Administrator certification. AZ-102 will retire as planned on June 30, 2019.
  • If you have registered to take AZ-100 between now and May 1, 2019, choose to take it, and pass, you will earn the Azure Administrator certification on or around May 1, 2019. If you have registered for AZ-101, choose to take it, and pass, you will earn the AZ-101 exam badge. You will be able to share this badge with others to demonstrate additional skills in the Azure Administrator space. Learn more about badging.
  • If you have taken or will take AZ-101 on or before May 1, 2019 (11:59 PM Central Standard Time), you will receive an exam voucher (regardless of if you passed or failed) that can be used for any Microsoft exam delivered through Pearson VUE as our thanks to you for being early adopters of our new certification program and helping us to better understand the certification needs of Azure Administrators so that we could simplify the process going forward. Pearson VUE will email the voucher to the address that you used to register for the exam. Pearson VUE sent one small batch of emails the week of April 22, 2019, and will send the rest of the emails on or before May 7, 2017. These vouchers expire on April 5, 2020.
  • Instructor-led training and online training (MOOCs) will be updated and available on May 1, 2019; the free learning content on Microsoft Learn will be complete around July 1, 2019.
  • For those of you who have been preparing for one or both of these exams, you can see how the new exam aligns to AZ-100 and AZ-101 in the attached document, AZ-103 OD with Alignment to AZ-100 and AZ-101.pdf.

Thanks again to those of you who took the leap with us into the new role-based certification program by being one of the first to earn this certification. Your feedback has helped us improve the certification experience for those to come—and they thank you as well! We will continue to learn and improve our program and certification options with your help.

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Answering Your Questions About AZ-103: Microsoft Azure Administrator Exam

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