Cloud computing has become a must-have skill for developers, administrators, and architects in today’s IT landscape. The leading cloud providers, like Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), each offer structured certification paths to validate skills from beginner to expert level.
In this post, I’ll walk you through the certifications I’ve earned in Microsoft Azure, and compare them with their equivalents in AWS and GCP, highlighting their focus and purpose.
My Azure Certifications
Here are the certifications I’ve earned so far for Azure:
- AZ-104: Azure Administrator Associate
- AZ-204: Azure Developer Associate
- AZ-305: Azure Solutions Architect
- AZ-400: Azure DevOps Expert
Let’s explore what each of these covers and how they map to AWS and GCP certifications (my certification roadmap).
Entry-Level / Foundational
AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
Focus:
Core cloud concepts, IaaS/PaaS/SaaS models, Azure services, pricing, governance, and SLAs. No prior experience is needed.
Equivalents:
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
- Google Cloud Digital Leader
These are ideal starting points for professionals new to cloud computing, offering a non-technical or lightly technical introduction to cloud concepts. I haven’t taken the AZ-900 because it didn’t provide me or my company with any advantage (if you have x amount of certified professionals associated with your company’s profile, Microsoft can give more visibility, projects, Azure credits and such, but this AZ-900 adds nothing to that, at least up to 2024).
If you want to get more details: Azure, AWS, Google
Cloud Administration
AZ-104: Azure Administrator Associate
Focus:
Managing Azure resources, identities, virtual networks, storage, compute, and monitoring.
Equivalents:
- AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate
- Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer
These certifications target professionals responsible for daily cloud operations, deployments, and managing the cloud environment. In my opinion, these are the best ones, not overly specialized, but deep enough to understand how to operate the platform.
If you want to get more details: Azure, AWS, Google
Cloud Development
AZ-204: Azure Developer Associate
Focus:
Developing and deploying Azure-based applications, using APIs, serverless functions, storage, messaging, and securing apps.
Equivalents:
- AWS Certified Developer – Associate
- Google Cloud Professional Cloud Developer
Perfect for software developers working directly with cloud services, SDKs, serverless computing, and distributed applications. In the past, developers were far removed from infrastructure, and most of them didn’t even know how to set up and deploy their apps.
Times have changed, and now developers and IT Pros are working together in a daily basis to increase service availability and reduce costs. So don’t be surprised seeing IaC, operational discussion like recovering goals, designing metrics and tracings, specifying alerts, squeezing budgets and other operational excellence discussions during the design and development fases: in the past these were commonly neglected, or discussed in smaller forums (only architects, POs, managers) either very early during planning or very late during operation (to fix current bottlenecks). Now it’s constantly more agile, sharing the responsibility to everyone (you’ve built, you run it).
If you want to get more details: Azure, AWS, Google
Cloud Architecture
AZ-305: Azure Solutions Architect Expert**
Focus:
Designing secure, scalable, cost-effective, and resilient cloud solutions.
Equivalents:
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate / Professional
- Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect
Architect-level certifications require a broad understanding of infrastructure, security, networking, data platforms, and best practices. These typically require more time; they are significantly more difficult, and sometimes more expensive to take.
If you want to get more details: Azure, AWS, Google
DevOps and Automation
AZ-400: Azure DevOps Expert
Focus:
CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code, monitoring, testing, and collaboration between development and operations.
Equivalents:
- AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional
- Google Cloud Professional DevOps Engineer
These certifications target professionals involved in automation, continuous delivery, and building robust DevOps strategies using tools like Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Terraform, etc. In my point of view, this one was hardest on Azure. Let’s see how it compares with AWS and GCP in the future.
If you want to get more details: Azure, AWS, Google
Summary Table
| Area | Azure | AWS | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fundamentals | AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals | Cloud Practitioner | Cloud Digital Leader |
| Administrator | AZ-104: Azure Administrator Associate | SysOps Administrator Associate | Associate Cloud Engineer |
| Developer | AZ-204: Azure Developer Associate | Developer Associate | Professional Cloud Developer |
| Architect | AZ-305: Azure Solutions Architect Expert | Solutions Architect (Assoc/Pro) | Professional Cloud Architect |
| DevOps | AZ-400: Azure DevOps Expert | DevOps Engineer Professional | Professional DevOps Engineer |
AZ-305 is the new version / replacement for AZ-304.
Final Thoughts
While each cloud provider uses different terminology and tooling, the core concepts remain similar like identity, networking, compute, automation, observability, and governance. A lot looks similar between AWS and Azure. Google has some key differences, mainly in terms of open-source initiatives and global network architecture, based on what I’ve studied so far.
If you’re just starting your cloud journey, I recommend this path:
- Begin with a Foundational certification to build your base. If you take AWS Cloud Practitioner first, they will provide you a discount to take the next one. Usually these certifications are cheaper and easier to take, so you can save money for the next ones and get a feel for what these exams are like.
- Choose Administrator or Developer depending on your role. I’ve decided to take both because we’ve been working at the interface between development and IT teams, so I have been working on these two worlds for the past decade.
- Level up to Architect and/or DevOps to expand your responsibilities and career reach.
It’s important to note that certification validity and renewal processes differ across cloud providers. Microsoft Azure certifications are typically valid for 1 year, but the renewal process is free and can be completed online through a short, unproctored assessment on Microsoft Learn (no need to retake the full exam). AWS certifications are valid for 3 years, and renewal requires retaking the full exam (at the same cost as the original), although AWS occasionally offers discounts or vouchers. Google Cloud certifications are also valid for 2 years and require retaking the full proctored exam to renew, with no shortcut assessments. Overall, Azure has the most convenient renewal process, while AWS and GCP demand a full retake, which means more preparation (and potentially more cost) every few years.
In this ever-changing world, being multi-cloud certified opens doors to hybrid solutions, multi-cloud architectures, and better decision-making (especially for architects and senior engineers). Have questions about certifications, study paths, or cloud career transitions? Drop me a message or follow the blog for more posts on Azure, AWS, and modern cloud development.
