IT Practice Exams

AZ-900 · Describe Cloud Concepts · Updated August 7, 2026

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) Study Guide: Format, Domains, Cost, and How to Pass

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) is Microsoft’s entry-level certification proving you understand cloud concepts, core Azure services, and how Azure is priced, secured, and governed. The exam runs roughly 40 to 60 questions in 60 minutes, uses a 1,000-point scale with a pass mark around 700, and costs $99 USD through Pearson VUE. It has no prerequisites and requires no hands-on Azure experience, though a mix of study and light hands-on practice is what actually gets people through it. This guide covers the exam format, all three domains with links to every topic you need, registration, and a study plan that takes you from zero to exam-ready.

What AZ-900 is and who it’s for

AZ-900 sits at the base of Microsoft’s certification structure, below the Associate and Expert tiers that cover roles like Azure Administrator, Azure Solutions Architect, and Azure Security Engineer. Where those role-based exams test configuration and hands-on skill, AZ-900 tests recognition and vocabulary: can you name the right Azure service for a described scenario, explain what a pricing model or governance tool does, and reason about where responsibility sits between Microsoft and the customer. Nothing on the exam requires you to have deployed a resource yourself, though doing so certainly helps the concepts stick.

Microsoft built this exam for a wide audience, and the range of people who sit it reflects that:

  • Career switchers and students who need a recognized credential to open doors into cloud-adjacent roles, without first needing years of IT experience.
  • Non-technical roles working alongside Azure teams — sales engineers, project managers, finance and procurement staff, and technical writers — who need enough fluency to participate in Azure conversations without being lost.
  • On-premises IT administrators and technicians making a first, structured move toward cloud skills before attempting a role-based Associate exam like AZ-104 (Azure Administrator).
  • Developers and architects from other cloud platforms (AWS, Google Cloud) who need the Azure-specific terminology and service names mapped onto concepts they already understand.
  • Managers and decision-makers evaluating or governing Azure spend who want the vocabulary to read a cost report or a governance policy without translation.

Microsoft states no formal prerequisites, and that’s accurate: you can register and sit the exam with zero prior Azure exposure. What Microsoft does recommend, informally, is basic familiarity with how the internet, networking, and general IT concepts work, since the exam assumes you already grasp what a server, a network, or a database is at a conceptual level. It builds Azure-specific knowledge on top of that base rather than teaching it from scratch.

AZ-900 alone will not qualify you for a hands-on Azure job. Its real value is twofold: it’s a credential that signals baseline competence to employers and clients, and it’s the on-ramp that makes an Associate-level exam far less intimidating, because a large share of the conceptual material (the shared responsibility model, core services, pricing structure) carries forward directly.

Exam format at a glance

AttributeDetail
Exam codeAZ-900
QuestionsApproximately 40–60
Time limit60 minutes (plus time for the pre-exam survey and NDA)
Question typesMultiple choice, multiple response, drag-and-drop, and scenario-based questions
Passing scoreAround 700 on a scale of 100–1,000
Scoring modelCompensatory across the exam — no separate pass/fail per domain
Cost$99 USD
DeliveryPearson VUE test center or online proctored
PrerequisitesNone
ValidityDoes not expire (unlike role-based Azure certifications, which renew annually)

A few of those rows change how you should approach preparation. The exam is compensatory, meaning Microsoft grades your overall score rather than requiring you to clear a bar in each domain separately. A domain you’re shaky on can be offset by strength elsewhere, so if governance topics aren’t clicking for you the week before the exam, doubling down on the services domain (the heaviest by weight) is a reasonable way to protect your overall score.

The question mix matters too. Alongside straightforward multiple choice, expect drag-and-drop matching (pairing a service or concept with its correct description) and short scenario stems that describe a business need and ask which Azure feature or pricing option fits. None of these require configuration skill; they test whether you can map a described need to the right term.

Time pressure is rarely the failure mode. Sixty minutes for up to 60 questions gives you roughly a minute per question, and most AZ-900 items are short. Candidates who fail this exam typically do so from gaps in knowledge, not from running out of time — which means your prep time is better spent on coverage and recognition than on speed drills.

Unlike AZ-104, AZ-500, and other role-based Azure certifications, AZ-900 does not expire. Once you pass, it’s a permanent line on your credential history, though Microsoft does periodically refresh the exam’s content outline to track new services and features, so a study guide from several years ago may already be stale on service names (Azure AD becoming Microsoft Entra ID is the highest-profile recent example).

The three domains and their weights

Microsoft’s AZ-900 skills outline groups everything into three domains:

DomainWeight
Describe Cloud Concepts~28%
Describe Azure Architecture and Services~37%
Describe Azure Management and Governance~35%

None of the three domains is small. Architecture and Services carries the most weight because it covers the largest surface area (compute, storage, networking, identity, and security services), but Cloud Concepts and Management and Governance are close behind and neither can be skipped. A candidate who nails the services domain but skips governance entirely is leaving close to a third of the exam on the table.

Domain 1: Describe Cloud Concepts (~28%)

This domain is the conceptual foundation everything else sits on. It asks whether you understand why organizations move to the cloud and how cloud economics and deployment models differ from running your own data center, independent of any specific Azure service.

Expect questions on the core value proposition of cloud computing: trading capital expenditure (buying hardware upfront) for operating expenditure (paying only for what you consume), the shift from unpredictable capacity planning to elastic, on-demand scale, and the five essential characteristics that define cloud computing as a model rather than just “someone else’s server.” You’ll also need the deployment-model vocabulary (public, private, and hybrid cloud) and the service-model vocabulary (IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS) cold, because the exam frequently tests whether you can tell them apart in a scenario rather than recite their definitions.

This domain also covers the shared responsibility model (who manages what security tasks as you move from IaaS toward SaaS), the difference between scalability and elasticity, high availability and reliability concepts including service-level agreements (SLAs), and the broader benefits cloud computing provides around security, compliance, and manageability. Serverless computing and the major Azure pricing and purchasing options — pay-as-you-go, reservations, and spot pricing — round out the domain.

Study these Cloud Concepts articles, organized to match how the domain builds:

Domain 2: Describe Azure Architecture and Services (~37%)

The largest domain by weight, and the one with the most raw content to cover, because it spans Azure’s physical infrastructure, core compute and networking services, storage, identity, and security tooling. The good news: AZ-900 only tests whether you can match a service to its purpose and recognize the right choice in a scenario, not whether you can configure it.

Start with the physical and organizational layers: regions, region pairs, availability zones, and how Azure’s global infrastructure is structured to survive failures at different scales. From there, move into the resource-management hierarchy (resource groups, subscriptions, and management groups) that everything else in Azure sits inside. Compute gets deep coverage — virtual machines, scale sets, availability sets, App Service, Azure Functions, and container options — followed by networking (virtual networks, subnets, DNS, and the hybrid connectivity options like VPN Gateway and ExpressRoute) and storage (account types, blob access tiers, and redundancy options like LRS and GRS). The domain closes with identity and security: Microsoft Entra ID, authentication methods like multi-factor authentication (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO), role-based access control (RBAC), Conditional Access, and the Zero Trust security model.

Study these Architecture and Services articles, grouped by sub-topic:

Global infrastructure and resource organization

Compute services

Networking

Storage

Identity and security

Domain 3: Describe Azure Management and Governance (~35%)

This domain covers what happens after resources are deployed: how much they cost, how spending is controlled and forecast, how compliance and standards get enforced across an organization, and which tools let administrators monitor, manage, and automate an Azure environment. It’s the domain most candidates underestimate, because it doesn’t involve naming a compute or storage service — it involves understanding processes and tools that only make sense once you already know what a subscription or a resource group is.

Cost management is the biggest chunk: what actually drives an Azure bill, the tools Microsoft provides to track and control spend (Cost Management + Billing, budgets, resource tags), and the purchasing options that reduce cost for predictable or interruptible workloads. Governance follows, built around Azure Policy (enforcing rules across resources), resource locks (preventing accidental deletion or modification), and Microsoft Purview (data governance and compliance). The domain closes with the management tools themselves: the Azure Portal, Cloud Shell, and mobile app; the command-line options (Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell); Azure Arc for hybrid and multicloud management; Infrastructure as Code through ARM templates and Bicep; and the monitoring and recommendation tools — Azure Advisor, Azure Monitor, Application Insights, and Service Health versus Resource Health.

Study these Management and Governance articles, grouped by sub-topic:

Cost management

Governance and compliance

Management tools and interfaces

Monitoring and recommendations

Registering for the exam

Registration goes through the Microsoft certification portal (called Microsoft Learn), where you sign in with a Microsoft account, select the AZ-900 exam, and schedule delivery through Pearson VUE. Two delivery formats are available:

  • Test center: you sit the exam on-site at a Pearson VUE facility. Bring valid government-issued photo ID, arrive with time to spare for check-in, and expect your belongings to be stored during the test. This route removes any concern about home environment or webcam checks.
  • Online proctored: you take the exam from your own computer under live remote supervision. Before the exam starts you’ll run a system compatibility check, show ID, and pan your webcam around the room to confirm you’re in a private, quiet space with a clear desk. No other people, no second monitor, and no talking aloud during the test.

The exam fee is $99 USD (pricing varies slightly by country and currency). You can reschedule or cancel free of charge up to a set window before your appointment (currently 24 hours), after which fees may apply. Results are typically available within a few days through the certification portal, and a pass earns you a digital badge you can share on LinkedIn and add to a résumé.

Unlike AWS’s foundational certification, Microsoft does not currently offer a renewal discount voucher tied to AZ-900 specifically, but passing it does reduce how much new material you face on a follow-up Associate exam, which is where the real time savings show up.

A study plan for AZ-900

This plan assumes roughly 45 minutes to an hour of study most days. Compress it to one or two weeks if you already have hands-on Azure or general cloud exposure; stretch it toward five or six weeks if you’re new to IT entirely and can only study a few times a week.

Week 1 — Cloud Concepts. Nail the vocabulary that everything else depends on: the five essential characteristics of cloud computing, CapEx versus OpEx, the three service models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), and the three deployment models (public, private, hybrid). Work through the shared responsibility model until you can place any given task — patching, physical security, data classification — on the right side of the line for a given service model. Close the week with a set of Domain 1 practice questions, and actually read the explanations, including for the ones you got right.

Week 2 — Core architecture. Learn Azure’s physical structure first: regions, region pairs, and availability zones, and why each protects against a different kind of failure. Move into the resource hierarchy (resource groups, subscriptions, management groups) and then compute: virtual machines, scale sets, availability sets, App Service, and Functions. Build a one-line-per-service cheat sheet as you go; writing it is most of the value.

Week 3 — Networking, storage, and identity. Cover virtual networks and subnets, then the hybrid connectivity trio (VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute, private endpoints). Move to storage: account types, blob access tiers, and redundancy options — this is a dense, detail-heavy sub-topic, so give it real time. Finish with identity: Microsoft Entra ID, MFA and SSO, RBAC versus Conditional Access, and Zero Trust. Run a full Domain 2 practice set at the end of the week.

Week 4 — Cost, governance, and management tools. Spend the first half of the week on cost management (what drives an Azure bill, Cost Management + Billing, the purchasing options) and governance (Azure Policy, resource locks, Purview). Then cover the management tools: Portal, Cloud Shell, Azure CLI versus PowerShell, Azure Arc, and Infrastructure as Code with ARM templates and Bicep. Close with Azure Advisor, Service Health versus Resource Health, and Azure Monitor.

Week 5 — Full rehearsal. Take two or three full-length, timed practice exams under real conditions: 60 minutes, no notes, no pausing. Score each one and spend at least as much time reviewing wrong answers as you spent taking the exam — a wrong answer you understand is worth more than three you guessed right. If a domain keeps dragging you down, remember scoring is compensatory: shoring up your strongest domain a bit further can matter as much as fixing your weakest.

Whatever else you use to prepare, practice AZ-900 exam questions from week one rather than saving them for a final check. Reading about Azure builds familiarity; answering questions under the same phrasing and framing the real exam uses builds the actual discrimination skill the test measures.

Exam-day tips

  • Answer every question. There’s no penalty for a wrong guess, so a blank answer is a guaranteed zero while a guess among four options starts you at 25% before you eliminate anything.
  • Eliminate obviously wrong options first. Most AZ-900 questions have one or two answers that are clearly off-topic once you know the domain. Cutting those turns a four-way guess into something much better.
  • Watch for qualifiers. Words like “most cost-effective,” “least administrative overhead,” or “best” change which technically-correct answer is the intended one. Two options can both work; the qualifier picks between them.
  • Match scenario scale to service tier. A scenario describing a small team with light traffic points to different answers than one describing an enterprise with regulatory requirements and global reach — the exam plants these cues on purpose.
  • Use flag-for-review deliberately. Answer everything you’re confident about on a first pass, flag anything shaky, then return to flagged items with remaining time. Don’t second-guess a recognition answer without a specific reason to.
  • Don’t let one strange question rattle you. Occasionally a question feels outside the syllabus. Give it your best elimination-based guess and move on rather than losing time or confidence over it.

Quick reference

  • AZ-900: roughly 40–60 questions, 60 minutes, pass around 700 on a 100–1,000 scale, compensatory scoring, and no expiration once passed.
  • Fee is $99 USD; delivery is Pearson VUE test center or online proctored; no prerequisites.
  • Domains and weights: Describe Cloud Concepts ~28%, Describe Azure Architecture and Services ~37%, Describe Azure Management and Governance ~35%.
  • Architecture and Services is the heaviest domain by weight and the broadest by content — budget extra study time there.
  • Master the shared responsibility model, IaaS vs PaaS vs SaaS, and the resource group/subscription/management group hierarchy — all three appear constantly across domains.
  • AZ-900 doesn’t expire, and passing it meaningfully lightens the load for a follow-up Associate exam like AZ-104.
  • Study with practice questions from day one, and finish with timed, full-length rehearsal exams in your final week.
Choose your exam → Lifetime access
from $59, once