AZ-104 : Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate

AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate

Overview

The AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate certification validates the foundational and intermediate skills required to implement, manage, and monitor an organization's Microsoft Azure environment. As businesses accelerate their migration to hybrid and multi-cloud architectures, Azure administrators serve as critical custodians of enterprise cloud infrastructure. This exam evaluates real-world proficiency across core technical capabilities, including managing Azure identities, configuring cloud governance, provisioning compute resources, setting up virtual networks, and managing storage accounts.

Earning this industry-standard credential demonstrates your ability to operate seamlessly as part of a larger team dedicated to implementing cloud infrastructure solutions. Passing the AZ-104 exam proves that you possess the hands-on expertise to maintain resilient, secure, and scalable cloud deployments using the Azure Portal, PowerShell, Azure CLI, and Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates.

Benefits

• Industry Recognition: Microsoft certifications are recognized globally by top enterprise employers as benchmarks for technical competence.
• Enhanced Cloud Administration Skills: Master end-to-end administration of core Azure services, identity management, and governance frameworks.
• Career Acceleration: Position yourself for high-demand cloud administration, systems engineering, and technical operations roles.
• Pathway to Advanced Credentials: Serves as a key prerequisite and foundational milestone for expert-level credentials such as DevOps Engineer Expert and Azure Solutions Architect Expert.
• Enterprise Credibility: Demonstrate your capability to optimize cloud resource performance, enforce security baselines, and control operational costs.

Who should take this exam

• Cloud Administrators responsible for day-to-day configuration and maintenance of Azure resources.
• Systems Administrators and Infrastructure Engineers transitioning from on-premises environments to cloud platforms.
• IT Professionals seeking official validation of their hands-on Microsoft Azure technical skills.
• DevOps Practitioners who need to manage infrastructure configurations, access policies, and virtual networks.
• Technical Support Engineers troubleshooting cloud infrastructure, connectivity, and storage issues.

Prerequisites

While there are no mandatory prerequisites to sit for the AZ-104 exam, candidates are strongly advised to have:

• At least six months of hands-on experience administering Microsoft Azure workloads.
• A solid understanding of core Azure services, Azure workloads, security, and governance.
• Familiarity with operating systems, virtualization, cloud infrastructure, storage structures, and networking fundamentals.
• Experience using PowerShell, Azure CLI, Azure Portal, and ARM templates to automate and manage resources.
• Optional but beneficial: Completion of the Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) exam.

Learning outcomes

• Configure and secure Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) users, groups, and role-based access control (RBAC).
• Implement and enforce cloud governance policies using Azure Policy and resource locks.
• Deploy and manage Azure Storage accounts, configure blob storage tiers, and implement file shares.
• Provision, configure, and scale Azure Virtual Machines (VMs), Azure Containers, and Azure App Services.
• Design and implement Azure Virtual Networks, including subnets, IP addressing, Network Security Groups (NSGs), and peering.
• Configure private and secure access to cloud services using Azure Private Endpoints and Service Endpoints.
• Monitor resource health, configure alerts, and analyze metrics using Azure Monitor and Log Analytics.

Career opportunities

• Azure Cloud Administrator: Average salary ranges from $95,000 to $135,000 depending on location and experience.
• Cloud Infrastructure Engineer: Manage enterprise cloud environments, migrations, and scalability.
• Systems Support Specialist (Cloud): Provide tier-2 and tier-3 technical support for Azure services.
• DevOps Support Engineer: Assist in managing cloud environments, deployment pipelines, and access governance.
• Cloud Operations Analyst: Ensure optimal uptime, performance monitoring, and cost control across cloud fleets.

Exam syllabus

Manage Azure identities and governance (20–25%)

• Manage Microsoft Entra users and groups, including invitations and licenses.
• Manage access control using Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and custom roles.
• Manage subscriptions and governance through Azure Policy, Resource Groups, and Resource Locks.
• Configure cost management, resource tags, and budget alerts.

Implement and manage storage (15–20%)

• Configure and secure Azure Storage accounts, access keys, and Shared Access Signatures (SAS).
• Manage data in Azure Blob Storage, including access tiers and lifecycle management policies.
• Configure Azure Files and Azure File Sync for hybrid file sharing.
• Configure storage security, soft delete, and data replication strategies.

Deploy and manage Azure compute resources (20–25%)

• Automate deployment of virtual machines using ARM templates and Bicep.
• Configure and manage Azure Virtual Machines, high availability sets, and Virtual Machine Scale Sets.
• Configure VM networking, disk encryption, and backup configurations.
• Deploy and configure container solutions, including Azure Container Instances (ACI) and Azure Container Apps.
• Create and configure Azure App Service web applications and deployment slots.

Implement and manage virtual networking (15–20%)

• Configure and manage Virtual Networks (VNets), subnets, and private/public IP addressing.
• Implement VNet Peering and configure routing rules with user-defined routes (UDRs).
• Secure network traffic using Network Security Groups (NSGs) and Application Security Groups (ASGs).
• Configure Azure load balancing solutions, including Azure Load Balancer and Azure Application Gateway.
• Implement network name resolution using Azure Private DNS.

Monitor and maintain Azure resources (10–15%)

• Monitor resources by using Azure Monitor, metrics, and activity logs.
• Configure and manage diagnostic settings, alert rules, and action groups.
• Query and analyze system telemetry using Log Analytics and Kusto Query Language (KQL).
• Implement backup and recovery solutions using Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery.