How to learn Azure

Cloud skills are becoming more popular every day! A lot of organizations are embracing the cloud for their applications, infrastructure, Machine Learning and IoT solutions. And this will grow significally in the next years!

This also means that (Microsoft) IT professionals need to update their skills as well. In this article I will give an overview how you can get started updating your skills and be ready for all the Azure work that is coming in the near future!

Create a free Azure account

The first step, is to create a free Azure account. With this account you can test all the different services and deploy your code to Azure during the different trainings. You get 12 months of free access to all the different Azure services for a limited amount per month.

You can create a free Azure account here: Create your Azure free account today | Microsoft Azure. There is also a module on Microsoft Learn that gives you more information about creating a free Azure account, and how billing and support works in Azure. This module is called: Create an Azure account.

Learn Azure on Microsoft Learn

Microsoft Learn offers free, interactive, hands-on training to help you develop Azure technical skills. You can find a variety of learning paths on Microsoft Learn, such as Azure, Microsoft 365, .NET development, Power Platform an more. You can also watch Learn TV, or explore the different Azure certifications from there.

For start learning Azure, the following learning paths are very interesting:

Azure Fundamentals Learning Paths:

• Azure Fundamentals part 1: Describe core Azure concepts: This learning path covers the benefits of cloud computing in Azure. It explains cloud concepts such as high availability, scalability, elasticity, agility, and disaster recovery. It also covers geographic distribution concepts such as Azure regions, region pairs, and availability zones.
• Azure Fundamentals part 2: Describe core Azure services: This covers the different services that are available in Azure, including compute, network, storage, and databases. It also covers virtualization services such as Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Container Instances, Azure Kubernetes Service, and Windows Virtual Desktop.
• Azure Fundamentals part 3: Describe core solutions and management tools on Azure: Azure offers a wide array of tools and services, such as Azure Artificial Intelligence services, cloud monitoring services, Azure management tools, serverless computing technologies, Azure IoT services. This learning path will help you choose the best one for your business.
• Azure Fundamentals part 4: Describe general security and network security features: Every application and service needs to be designed with security in mind. This means that having a good security strategy is essential in today’s digital world. This learning path covers the different services that can help ensure that your cloud resources are safe, secure, and trusted.
• Azure Fundamentals part 5: Describe identity, governance, privacy, and compliance features: With the rise of remote work, the primary security boundaries shifted. Understanding who is using your systems and what they have permission to do are critical to keeping your data safe from attackers. This learning path covers the cloud governance strategy, and how to implement regulatory and compliance standards.
• Azure Fundamentals part 6: Describe Azure cost management and service level agreements: Migrating to the cloud also means that you need to rethink your cost strategy and expenses. This learning path covers factors that influence cost, tools you can use to help estimate and manage your cloud spend.

These learning paths will give you a very comprehensive introduction to Azure. By completing the learning path, you will also be ready to take the AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals certification.

Learn Azure using Microsoft Docs

Another great source for learning Azure are the Microsoft Docs. I make lots of use it for writing my Azure books. You can find anything that you want to know about Azure there.

Learn Azure using books

There is also a variety of books available to learn Azure. You can have a look at Amazon for the different books that are available.

To highlight a couple of books:

-Sjoukje