Microsoft Certification Training: Complete Guide 2022 (2024)

One of the best ways to boost your IT career is to get a Microsoft Certification. Whether you work (or want to work) as an IT professional, analyst, developer, system, or database administrator, a Microsoft Certification can help you prove your skills and increase your chances of getting hired or promoted.

Microsoft offers a number of certifications and despite the recent changes made by the Microsoft Training department to simplify the certification paths and categories, some students still find it difficult to decide which path to follow and which certifications to pursue.

We created this guide to help you understand how to get Microsoft certified pursuing the certifications that are best suited for your career and job role.

You’ll also learn about the new Microsoft Certification path, which are the best certifications per category, and which certifications are retired and no longer available.

To make it easier to navigate through our guide, here is a quick table of contents.

Microsoft Training Learning Options

We all learn in different ways, and Microsoft offers multiple ways to get certified. You can choose from accelerated Bootcamp training, instructor-led (classroom live), virtual classroom live, and online courses.

Accelerated Bootcamp Training

This is the fastest and most reliable way to get Microsoft Certified. Accelerated Bootcamp training (sometimes called “Microsoft Boot camps“), allows students to learn technologies in a fraction of the time of traditional classroom training.

Certification Camps exclusively delivers specialized training using the Microsoft Boot Camp format. Our training model blends knowledge and certification prep into one solution. This “hybrid” solution is designed for you to learn the objectives of the exam, not just “learn the exam”. We offer “All-Inclusive” pricing with airfare, lodging, transportation, meals, books & test vouchers.

Instructor-Led Training

Interact face-to-face with Microsoft certified trainers. For those looking to develop their skills and technical expertise, you can learn from the experts themselves. You can choose from two different options with Instructor-Led Training:

• Classroom live (in-class training)
• Virtual Classroom Live (Remotely attend and interact with the instructor led-live class)

Benefits of Getting Microsoft Certified

Becoming Microsoft certified is a great way to demonstrate your expertise, prove your skills, and boost your IT career. According to studies, Microsoft Certified professionals:

Stand out – Certified employees get greater recognition of skills due to validation.

Earn more – 23% of Microsoft certified technologists earn up to 20% more.

Advance – 49% believe cloud certifications increase employability

Microsoft Certification Path

Microsoft certifications are grouped into five major technologies. These are:

• Microsoft Azure Certifications
• Microsoft 365 Certifications
• Dynamics 365 Certifications
• Power Platform Certifications
• Security, Compliance, and Identify Certifications

For each of the above technologies, there are three types of certifications you can pursue:

Fundamental Certifications – ideal for beginners to Microsoft certifications.

Role-Based Certifications – build the skills needed to support a particular job role. The role-based certifications are separated into associate and expert.

The job roles defined by Microsoft are:

• Developer
• Administrator
• Solution Architect
• Data Engineer
• Data Scientist
• AI Engineer
• DevOps Engineer
• Security Engineer
• Functional Consultant

Specialty Certifications – expand your technical skills and manage industry solutions.

To get a better idea, have a look at the Microsoft Certification Roadmap for 2022 below. Click on the image to enlarge to view the full certification list.

To understand how the certification process works, let’s look at each technology separately.

Microsoft Azure Certifications

Azure is a cloud platform hosting products and services designed to build enterprise application cloud solutions. It’s by far the most widely-used platform for building and managing applications in the cloud.

Becoming Azure certified is a great way to advance your IT career. With the rise of cloud-enabled solutions, Azure certified professionals are high in demand and Azure certifications are the most popular Microsoft certifications to pursue in 2022.

The diagram below shows all available Azure certifications.

If you are a beginner and want to get into Azure, you should first start with the basics i.e. the Azure fundamental certifications.

Azure Fundamentals Certifications:

• Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)
• Azure Data Fundamentals (DP-900)
• Azure AI Fundamentals (AI-900)

You should then continue with a role-based certification, based on your job responsibilities.

These include the Azure Associate certifications and the Azure Expert certifications.

Azure Associate Certifications:

• Azure Administrator (AZ-104)
• Azure Security Engineer (AZ-500)
• Azure Stack Hub Operator (AZ-600)
• Azure Developer (AZ-204)
• Azure Database Administrator (DP-300)
• Azure Data Engineer (DP-203)
• Data Analyst (DA-100)
• Azure AI Engineer (AI-102)
• Azure Data Scientist (DP-100)

Azure Expert Certifications:

• Azure Solutions Architect (AZ-303 + AZ-304)
• DevOps Engineer (AZ-400)

You can then further expand your Azure technical skills by taking a specialty certification.

Azure Specialty Certifications:

• Azure for SAP Workloads (AZ-120)
• Azure Virtual Desktop (AZ-140)
• Azure IoT Developer (AZ-220)

Let’s look at another example to understand your options. If you want to become an Azure Certified Developer then your training journey looks like this:

You should start with the three fundamental certifications:

• Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)
• Azure Data Fundamentals (DP-900)
• Azure AI Fundamentals (AI-900)

Then take two associate certifications:

• Azure Developer (AZ-204)
• Azure AI Engineer (AI-102)

Then go for the premium certifications to become an Azure Certified Expert.

• Azure Solutions Architect (AZ-303 + AZ-304)
• DevOps Engineer (AZ-400)

Depending on your job role there is a different learning path to follow. You can view all available options in the Microsoft Role-Based Certifications section of this guide.

Microsoft 365 Certifications

Microsoft 365 (previously Office 365) is a platform designed to enable people and businesses to develop and deploy Office applications and intelligent cloud services.

The path to becoming Microsoft 365 certified is not as complicated as Azure. Currently, there are no specialty certifications for Microsoft 365 so all you have to do is to start with the fundamentals and then choose a role-based certification.

The diagram below shows all available Microsoft 365 Certifications.

Microsoft 365 Fundamental Certifications:

• Microsoft 365 Fundamentals (MS-900)

Microsoft 365 Associate Certifications:

• Microsoft 365 Modern Desktop Administrator (MD-100, MD-101)
• Microsoft 365 Messaging Administrator (MS-203)
• Microsoft 365 Security Administrator (MS-500)
• Microsoft 365 Developer (MS-600)
• Microsoft 365 Teams Administrator (MS-700)

Microsoft 365 Expert Certifications:

• Microsoft 365 Enterprise Admin (MS-100, MS-101)

Dynamics 365 Certifications

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a group of SaaS applications and services designed to cope with all CRM, intelligent analytics, and ERP needs of enterprise applications.

To become Microsoft Certified in Dynamics 365, there are two paths to follow. The Customer Engagement Apps Path and the Finance and Operations Apps.

Let’s see the certifications available for both learning paths.

Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Apps

For the Customer Engagement Apps path, you have five certifications. One fundamentals certification to learn the basics and four associate certifications.

In particular, these are:

Dynamics 365 Fundamental Certifications:

• Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (CRM) (MB-910)

Dynamics 365 Associate Certifications:

• Dynamics 365 Sales Functional Consultant (PL-200, MB-210)
• Dynamics 365 Marketing Functional Consultant (PL-200, MB-220)
• Dynamics 365 Customer Service Functional Consultant (PL-200, MB-230)
• Dynamics 365 Field Service Functional Consultant (PL-200, MB-240)

Dynamics 365 Finance Operations Apps

For the Finance and Operations Apps path, you have eight certifications. One fundamentals certification to learn the basics, six associate certifications, and one expert certification.

In particular, these are:

Dynamics 365 Fundamental Certifications:

• Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (CRM) (MB-910)

Dynamics 365 Associate Certifications:

• Dynamics 365 Finance Functional Consultant (MB-300, MB-310)
• Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Manufacturing Functional Consultant (MB-300, MB-320)
• Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management Functional Consultant (MB-300, MB-330)
• Dynamics365CommerceFunctionalConsultant (MB-340)
• Dynamics 365: Finance and Operations Apps Developer (MB-300, MB-500)
• Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Consultant (MB-800)

Dynamics 365 Expert Certifications:

• Dynamics 365: Finance and Operations Apps Solution Architect (MB-700)

Microsoft Power Platform Certifications

The Microsoft Power Platform allows you to connect different technologies together like Office 365, Dynamics 365, and Azure, to build powerful end-to-end business solutions.

To become Microsoft Power Platform certified you have a number of options, as shown in the diagram below.

Beginners can start with the Power Platform Fundamentals certification and then pursue either an associate or expert certification. The available certifications for Power Platform are:

Microsoft Power Platform Fundamentals Certifications:

• Microsoft Power Platform Fundamentals (PL-900)

Microsoft Power Platform Associate Certifications:

• Microsoft Power Platform App Maker (PL-100)
• Microsoft Power Platform Functional Consultant (PL-200)
• Microsoft Power Platform Developer (PL-400)
• Data Analyst (DA-100)

Microsoft Power Platform Expert Certifications:

• Microsoft Power Platform Solution Architect (PL-600)

Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identify Certifications

Microsoft Security certifications are suitable for those who want to become an expert in Security, compliance, and identity (SCI) across all Microsoft platforms.

To become a Microsoft Security certified professional you have to pass the fundamentals exam and one of the associate certifications as shown below.

Microsoft Security Fundamentals Certifications

• Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals (SC-900)

Microsoft Security Associate Certifications

• Azure Security Engineer (AZ-500)
• Microsoft 365 Security Administrator (MS-500)
• Information Protection Administrator (SC-400)
• Identity and Access Administrator (SC-300)
• Security Operations Analyst (SC-200)

Microsoft Role-Based Certifications

Decades ago, when computer technology was still very young, Information Technology was a generalist job, meaning, you learned how to do the same basic tasks on a handful of different systems. Some required specific certifications, while others required adapting your training to fit a new system.

Today, everything is different. The possibilities in online, cloud-based services, mobile technology, and more have blown the IT industry wide open.

Microsoft is now offering role-based solutions that match up IT training with specific roles served within IT departments. This provides two main benefits to industries and to you.

First, it provides a host of newly trained workers for the industry, who are trained within the latest technology in the specific areas of need.

Second, it allows workers to fast-track their training that matches actual job openings, rather than spending months learning skills and platforms that may or may not have related job opportunities.

A Change of Focus from Platform to Role-Based Certifications

The expansion of IT possibilities has brought about this change in philosophy and focus.

Training according to different platforms is no longer enough. Today we train for the specific role required within those platforms. In some cases, these roles function across a variety of platforms, but the job roles are distinct.

What are some examples of these job roles? There are developers, administrators, and solutions architects – which expand on the traditional “troubleshooter” role.

Each of these roles needs to know the platform well, but they use the platforms in critically unique ways.

There is something for everyone in IT, and Microsoft Certifications will give you the skills to meet the job opportunities available to you today.

In the list below, you can find all the available Microsoft Certifications by job role.

Microsoft Developer Certifications

Microsoft Administrator Certifications

Solutions Architect Certifications

Data Scientist Certifications

DevOps Engineer Certifications

Functional Consultant Certifications

About Certification Camps

Certification Camps is a proud Microsoft Gold Partner and a Microsoft Solutions Provider (recommended by Microsoft). Certification Camps operates in 36 different training centers across the US. Our Corporate Offices are located in beautiful Sarasota, FL. We have a team of 15 dedicated instructors who consult as well as teach. Many of our instructors are authors, Microsoft MVP’s and MCMs – and all of them are consultants who work in the field.

Microsoft Certifications FAQ

What is Microsoft Certification?

A Microsoft Certification is awarded to IT professionals who successfully pass one or more Microsoft certification exams. When you pass one exam you become a Microsoft Certified Professional. To achieve other certifications such as MCE, MCA, MCSE, you have to pass multiple exams.

What are the benefits of getting a Microsoft Certification?

Getting a Microsoft certification is a great way to demonstrate your expertise, prove your skills and boost your IT career. According to studies, Microsoft Certified professionals get greater recognition of skills due to validation, earn 20% more salary, and have 49% more chances of getting employed in the IT industry.

What is the Microsoft Certifications Roadmap for 2022?

The new Microsoft Certifications Roadmap for 2022 has five certification paths you can follow and each path has three different levels of certifications: Fundamentals, Role-Based Certifications, and Specialty. The main focus of the new roadmap is Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Security.

Which Microsoft certification is best for beginners?

The Microsoft Fundamentals Certifications are suitable for individuals just starting in technology or thinking about a career change. Microsoft offers a fundamentals certification for Azure, Microsoft 365, and Dynamics 365.

Which is the most popular Microsoft Certification?

According to Microsoft, the most popular certifications right now are MCA Azure Administrator, MCE Azure Solutions Architect, MCE Microsoft 365 Enterprise Administrator, and MCE Azure DevOps Engineer.