Microsoft certification · Fundamentals
Which Microsoft fundamentals exam should you take first?
Microsoft has a fundamentals exam for each technology area. They are short, entry-level and optional: no associate exam requires one. Fundamentals certifications also never expire.
- Start with the one for the area you want to work in: data, AI, security or Power Platform.
- Not sure yet? Start with AZ-900. It is the broadest, and covers the cloud concepts and core Azure services the other exams assume.
The five fundamentals exams
| Exam | What it covers | Leads to these career paths on ExamKite |
|---|---|---|
| AZ-900 | Cloud concepts, core Azure services, and Azure management and governance | Azure Administrator, Solutions Architect, DevOps Engineer, Network Engineer, Windows Server Administrator, AI Cloud Developer |
| DP-900 | Relational and non-relational data, and analytics with Fabric, Databricks and Power BI | Data Analyst, Analytics Engineer, Database, Data Engineer |
| AI-901 | AI concepts and responsible AI, and generative AI, agents, text, speech and vision with Microsoft Foundry | AI Engineer, AI Cloud Developer, AI Operations Engineer |
| SC-900 | Security, compliance and identity concepts with Microsoft Entra, Defender, Sentinel and Purview | Security Operations Analyst, Identity and Access Administrator, Information Security Administrator |
| PL-900 | Power Apps, Power Automate, Dataverse and Copilot Studio agents | Power Platform |
Do you need a fundamentals exam at all?
No. They are useful if you are new to an area, or want a first certification to show. If you already work with the technology, you can go straight to the associate exam. On ExamKite, each fundamentals practice test has 40 questions in 45 minutes, so it is also a quick way to find gaps before an associate exam.
Practice for your first exam
Questions people ask
Do fundamentals certifications expire?
No. Fundamentals certifications never expire, unlike associate and expert certifications, which you renew every year.
Do I need AZ-900 before AZ-104?
No. No associate exam requires a fundamentals certification. AZ-900 is a good start if Azure is new to you.
Which fundamentals exam is best for data roles?
DP-900. On ExamKite it leads into PL-300, DP-600 and DP-700.
More answers in the full FAQ.
Practice in the real exam formats
Every exam on ExamKite starts with a free diagnostic and a study plan for the topics you miss.