Microsoft Azure Certifications Roadmap

The full Azure certification map for 2026 — levels, role paths, which exams are retired, what replaced them, and the right order to take Azure certs by role.

Daniel Carter7 July 2026 · 11 min read

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Transit-map style diagram of Azure certification tracks with exam codes as stations and retired exams marked closed

The Azure certification ladder in 2026 has three rungs — fundamentals, role-based associate, and expert — and the reliable spine running through it is short: AZ-900 if you're new to cloud, AZ-104 as the pivotal associate credential, then AZ-305 or AZ-400 at expert level, with specialised associate tracks (networking, security operations, identity, data, endpoint management) branching off according to your role. Everything else on older roadmaps needs checking, because Microsoft is in the middle of its largest certification overhaul since 2019, retiring roughly a dozen role-based certifications between mid and late 2026 and steering their content toward new AI-centred credentials.

This article is the map: every level, every current Azure-relevant track, what retired and what replaced it, and the sensible exam order for six common career directions. It deliberately stays at map altitude — each individual exam has its own dedicated guide on this site for objectives, format and preparation depth.

How Microsoft structures Azure certifications

Microsoft organises certifications by role rather than by product tier, but three levels (plus one lightweight extra) define the climb:

Fundamentals — beginner credentials such as Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900). Exams run 45 minutes, have no prerequisites, and the certifications never expire. They validate vocabulary and concepts, not hands-on ability.
Role-based associate — the working-professional tier: Azure Administrator (AZ-104), Azure Network Engineer (AZ-700), Security Operations Analyst (SC-200) and others. The associate exams verified for this article run 100 minutes. These certifications expire after one year, renewable free of charge via an unproctored, open-book online assessment on Microsoft Learn.
Expert — currently two Azure expert credentials: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (exam AZ-305) and DevOps Engineer Expert (exam AZ-400). Uniquely in Microsoft's catalogue, both carry mandatory certification prerequisites — more on that below, because it dictates exam order.
Applied Skills — free, scenario-based online assessments that credential a narrow skill without an exam appointment and don't expire. Useful supplements, not substitutes for role-based certifications.

Some scoring and logistics facts apply across the whole roadmap, so learn them once: every Microsoft technical exam is scored on a 1–1,000 scale with 700 to pass — a scaled score, not 70% of questions. Microsoft doesn't publish question counts, only durations. Exams are delivered through Pearson VUE at test centres or via online proctoring, and pricing is set per country or region — third-party sources commonly cite around US$99 for fundamentals and US$165 for associate and expert exams in the US, but always confirm the figure for your country on the official exam page. If you fail, the first retake is available after 24 hours, with longer waits for subsequent attempts.

The certification levels at a glance

Factor	Fundamentals	Associate	Expert
Example exams	AZ-900, DP-900, SC-900, AI-901	AZ-104, AZ-700, SC-200, SC-300, DP-700, PL-300, MD-102	AZ-305, AZ-400
Exam length	45 minutes	100 minutes (verified exams)	Not published on cert pages — check the exam page
Prerequisites	None	None formal (experience recommended)	Mandatory: AZ-104 for AZ-305; AZ-104 (or a valid AZ-204) for AZ-400
Validity	Never expires	1 year, free online renewal	1 year, free online renewal
Cost tier (commonly cited, varies by country)	~US$99	~US$165	~US$165
Best for	Career changers, non-technical roles, first cloud exposure	Practitioners doing the work daily	Architects and senior engineers designing solutions

The 2026 shake-up: what's retired, what survives

Any roadmap published before 2025 will mislead you, so clear the debris first.

Retired or retiring (do not plan around these):

DP-203 / Azure Data Engineer Associate — retired 31 March 2025. Microsoft positions DP-700, Fabric Data Engineer Associate, as the closest replacement; DP-203 centred on Azure Synapse, DP-700 on Microsoft Fabric.
AZ-204 / Azure Developer Associate — retired; Microsoft's certification page carries the official retirement notice. Secondary sources report a 31 July 2026 date and name an AI-focused successor (exam AI-200), though official details of successor credentials were still emerging at the time of writing.
AI-102 / Azure AI Engineer Associate and DP-100 / Azure Data Scientist Associate — both retired per official notices in mid-2026, with AI-development and MLOps-focused successors named by secondary sources (AI-103 and a new MLOps-focused associate certification respectively).
AZ-500 / Azure Security Engineer Associate — retires 31 August 2026, per the official page; after that date it can be neither earned nor renewed. Secondary sources name SC-500 (Cloud and AI Security Engineer) as the successor.
MS-900 / Microsoft 365 Fundamentals — retired per its official page (relevant if your roadmap straddled Azure and Microsoft 365).

Two consequences matter for planning. First, per reporting on the transition, there is no automatic migration or free upgrade from a retired certification to its successor — retired certs remain on your transcript permanently, but you'd earn any successor from scratch. Second, successor exam codes and formats come largely from secondary reporting so far; before building a plan around AI-200, AI-103 or SC-500, check Microsoft Learn for the official pages.

The stable core you can safely build on in 2026: AZ-900, SC-900, DP-900 and AI-901 (fundamentals); AZ-104, AZ-700, SC-200, SC-300, MD-102, PL-300 and DP-700 (associate); AZ-305 and AZ-400 (expert). None carried retirement warnings as of this article's fact-check date — though in a refresh cycle this active, glancing at the official certification page before booking any exam is cheap insurance.

Which Azure certification should you take first?

There is no universal first exam — there's a right first exam for your starting point.

Start with AZ-900 (Azure Fundamentals) if you're new to cloud computing, moving from a non-technical role, or you work adjacent to engineers (sales, project management, finance) and need shared vocabulary. It has no prerequisites, never expires, and its 45-minute exam covers cloud concepts, Azure architecture and services, and management and governance. Its dedicated walkthrough is the Azure Fundamentals certification guide, and whether it's worth your time at all gets a straight verdict in Is Azure Fundamentals worth it?

Start directly with AZ-104 (Azure Administrator) if you already work in IT — systems administration, on-premises infrastructure, another cloud. AZ-900 is not a prerequisite for anything; Microsoft imposes no entry requirement on associate exams, so experienced professionals can skip straight to the credential employers actually shortlist for. The trade-off between the two entry points is unpacked in Azure Fundamentals vs Azure Administrator.

Start with a different fundamentals exam if your destination isn't infrastructure: DP-900 (Azure Data Fundamentals) for data-track beginners, SC-900 (Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals) for security-track beginners, or AI-901 for AI — noting that AI-901 replaced the AI-900 exam in April 2026 while the Azure AI Fundamentals certification itself continues.

The roadmap by role

Each track below gives the sequence and the reasoning; the individual guides linked in each track carry the exam-level depth.

1. Cloud administrator / infrastructure operations

Sequence: (AZ-900 →) AZ-104 → specialise or step up.

AZ-104 Azure Administrator Associate is the anchor certification of the entire Azure ecosystem — the exam covers identities and governance, storage, compute, virtual networking, and monitoring, and it doubles as the gateway to both expert credentials. Treat it as non-optional on any infrastructure path. The full preparation picture is in the Azure Administrator certification guide; its salary-and-career payoff is weighed separately in Is the Azure Administrator certification worth it?, and its difficulty in How hard is the Azure Administrator exam?

From AZ-104, administrators typically either specialise sideways (AZ-700 networking, SC-300 identity, MD-102 endpoint management) or climb to AZ-305.

2. Solutions architect

Sequence: (AZ-900 →) AZ-104 → AZ-305.

Here the order isn't advice — it's a rule. The Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification requires you to hold Azure Administrator Associate before it can be awarded; passing AZ-305 without AZ-104 earns you nothing but an exam result. AZ-305, "Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions," tests design judgement across identity and governance, data storage, business continuity and infrastructure. The credential's full anatomy is in the Azure Solutions Architect certification guide; if you're weighing AZ-104 versus AZ-305 as roles rather than as steps, see Azure Administrator vs Azure Solutions Architect. For what the market pays for it, training-industry surveys such as Skillsoft's IT Skills and Salary Report have repeatedly placed Azure Solutions Architect Expert among the highest-paying certifications — exact figures vary by country, experience and role, so treat any single number sceptically.

3. DevOps engineer

Sequence: (AZ-900 →) AZ-104 → AZ-400.

DevOps Engineer Expert (exam AZ-400, covering process, source control, pipelines, security and compliance, and instrumentation across GitHub and Azure DevOps) historically accepted either AZ-104 or AZ-204 as its prerequisite. With AZ-204 retired, AZ-104 is the practical route for new candidates — existing AZ-204 holders' certifications still count while valid, though Microsoft's transition guidance remained thin at the time of writing. Full credential details live in the Azure DevOps Engineer certification guide; the developer-versus-DevOps fork is compared in Azure Developer vs Azure DevOps Engineer, and the value case in Is the Azure DevOps certification worth it?

4. Security specialist

Sequence: (SC-900 →) SC-200 and/or SC-300 → watch the AZ-500 succession.

Security is where the overhaul bites hardest. With AZ-500 retiring on 31 August 2026, the dependable security credentials right now are SC-200 Security Operations Analyst Associate (security operations, incident response and threat hunting across Microsoft Defender XDR, Microsoft Sentinel and related tooling) and SC-300 Identity and Access Administrator Associate (Microsoft Entra-centred identity design and governance). Candidates targeting the classic Azure security engineer profile should monitor Microsoft Learn for the officially confirmed AZ-500 successor before committing. Historical context on AZ-500 itself is in the Azure Security Engineer certification guide, and the Microsoft-versus-vendor-neutral question is handled in Azure security certifications vs vendor-neutral cybersecurity certs.

5. Data professional

Sequence: (DP-900 →) DP-700 for engineering, or PL-300 for analysis.

Forget DP-203 — it's been gone since March 2025. The current Microsoft data-engineering credential is DP-700 Fabric Data Engineer Associate, reflecting the platform shift from Azure Synapse to Microsoft Fabric, and testing analytics implementation, data ingestion and transformation, and optimisation with SQL, PySpark and KQL. Analysts should look instead at PL-300 Power BI Data Analyst Associate. The data-engineering track has its own map in the Azure Data Engineer certification guide; for machine learning and AI-service roles, the landscape is mid-transition after the DP-100 and AI-102 retirements — see the Azure Data Scientist certification guide and Azure AI Engineer certification guide for where those paths stand.

6. Network engineer

Sequence: (AZ-900 →) AZ-104 recommended → AZ-700.

AZ-700 Azure Network Engineer Associate covers core networking infrastructure, connectivity, application delivery, private access to Azure services and network security. It has no formal prerequisite, but its content presumes the networking fluency AZ-104 builds, which is why most candidates sequence it second. Exam-level detail is in the Azure Network Engineer certification guide.

Sequencing rules that apply to every track

Whichever track you chose above, four planning rules keep a multi-cert roadmap realistic:

Respect the two hard prerequisites, ignore the imaginary ones. Only AZ-305 and AZ-400 formally require a prior certification (AZ-104 in practice). Everything else is open to direct entry — fundamentals exams are optional on-ramps, not gates.
Plan for annual renewal from day one. Every role-based certification you add is a credential you'll renew each year. Renewal is free, online, open book and generously retakeable within the six-month window before expiry — light work, but it scales with how many certs you hold. Three or four active certifications means three or four renewal assessments a year; collect deliberately, not compulsively.
Verify before you book. In a refresh cycle that has already retired a dozen credentials, the certification's official Microsoft Learn page — not a blog, including this one — is the final word on whether an exam is alive, what it costs in your country, and what its current study guide covers.
One exam at a time, proven by practice. Multi-cert roadmaps stall when candidates study two exams in parallel and finish neither. Sequence them, and use timed practice tests as the gate between exams: ExamPractice's Microsoft exams hub has free sample questions for the exams on this roadmap — for instance the AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals questions and AZ-104 Azure Administrator questions — with fuller sets and a timed simulation mode for subscribers, so you can benchmark readiness before spending an exam fee.

A worked example: from service desk to architect

To make the map concrete: picture a service-desk analyst with three years of Windows and Microsoft 365 support experience aiming at cloud architecture. A sensible route reads: AZ-900 first (six weeks or so of part-time study buys cloud vocabulary and a permanent credential), then a deliberate, hands-on push to AZ-104 (the serious jump — real portal, CLI and PowerShell practice, not just reading), then twelve months of applying those skills at work while the AZ-104 renewal cycle begins, then AZ-305 once designing — not just operating — feels natural. Total elapsed time: roughly two to three years, driven by experience gained between exams rather than exam cramming. Contrast that with a peer who books AZ-305 study before touching AZ-104: even a pass leaves the expert credential unawarded and the design content ungrounded. The roadmap's order exists because the skills compound in that order.

Frequently asked questions

Do Azure certifications expire?

Fundamentals certifications (AZ-900, DP-900, SC-900, AI-901's certification) never expire. Role-based associate and expert certifications expire after one year but renew free through an online, unproctored, open-book assessment on Microsoft Learn, available in the six months before expiry.

Can I skip AZ-900 and go straight to AZ-104?

Yes. No associate exam has a formal prerequisite. Skip AZ-900 if you have hands-on IT experience; take it if cloud is genuinely new to you.

How much does each Azure exam cost?

Microsoft prices exams by country or region rather than publishing one global figure. Third-party sources commonly cite about US$99 for fundamentals and US$165 for associate and expert exams in the US — confirm the current fee for your region on the exam's Microsoft Learn page before booking.

Are old certifications like AZ-203 or the 70-series still available?

No — those belong to earlier generations of the programme (you may still encounter their names in older job adverts and study materials). The current roadmap is the role-based structure described above.

What score do I need to pass?

700 on a 1,000-point scale, for every Microsoft technical exam. It's a scaled score, so it does not mean 70% of questions correct.

Plotting your own line on the map

Start from your role, not from the catalogue: pick the track above that matches where you want to be in two years, confirm on Microsoft Learn that your target exams are current, and book only the next exam in the sequence. For most readers that next step is one of exactly three: AZ-900 if cloud is new, AZ-104 if you're already hands-on, or the fundamentals exam of your specialist track (DP-900 or SC-900) if your destination is data or security. The full catalogue — including exams beyond Azure — is browsable in the certification exams directory whenever your roadmap grows past this map.

Exam facts in this guide were checked against official certification-provider pages on 30 August 2026. Fees, exam codes and policies change — confirm on the provider’s own site before you book.