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Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert Quick Facts
The Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification empowers you to design secure, reliable, and scalable cloud solutions with confidence. This overview will give you a clear roadmap of what to expect on the exam so you can prepare with focus and purpose.
What does the Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certification validate?
The Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification demonstrates your ability to design and implement effective solutions on Azure across compute, networking, storage, security, and business continuity. It proves that you can recommend services, guide migrations, align governance with business needs, and deliver resilient architectures that support modern workloads. This certification is ideal for seasoned IT professionals and architects who want to showcase advanced expertise in building cloud strategies that empower organizations to scale, innovate, and achieve operational excellence.
Exam Domains Covered (Click to expand breakdown)
Exam Domain Breakdown
Domain 1: Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions (27.5% of the exam)
Design solutions for logging and monitoring
- Recommend a logging solution
- Recommend a solution for routing logs
- Recommend a monitoring solution
Section summary: This section ensures that you understand how to create comprehensive visibility for Azure environments. You'll need to recommend the right tools and services that capture logs, route them efficiently, and generate monitoring insights that drive proactive management. By exploring these solutions, you'll be able to design monitoring strategies that enhance resilience and operational performance.
In addition to technical design, this part focuses on aligning monitoring solutions with business needs. You will practice identifying when specific monitoring tools should be applied and how logging helps organizations maintain compliance. The knowledge from this section is all about enabling greater transparency and ensuring environments remain well-governed over time.
Design authentication and authorization solutions
- Recommend an authentication solution
- Recommend an identity management solution
- Recommend a solution for authorizing access to Azure resources
- Recommend a solution for authorizing access to on-premises resources
- Recommend a solution to manage secrets, certificates, and keys
Section summary: This part of the exam covers recommendations for authentication, authorization, and secure identity management. You will focus on choosing the right methods for granting access to Azure workloads and designing cross-environment access solutions for hybrid infrastructures. Understanding how to safeguard credentials, certificates, and keys is just as important as accurately granting permissions.
Beyond access control, this section emphasizes designing identity strategies that scale across large organizations. You will see how solutions like Azure Active Directory can strengthen governance and provide flexibility, while services for secrets and key management ensure robust protection and compliance.
Design governance
- Recommend a structure for management groups, subscriptions, and resource groups, and a strategy for resource tagging
- Recommend a solution for managing compliance
- Recommend a solution for identity governance
Section summary: Here you will shape governance structures within Azure. That means selecting strategies for organizing management groups, structuring subscriptions and resource groups, and developing effective tagging plans that give order and clarity to environments.
This area also highlights compliance and identity governance solutions. You will design ways to maintain regulatory alignment and recommend governance practices that ensure sustainable operations. With a strong grasp of these concepts, you'll be able to build frameworks that balance control, flexibility, and organizational effectiveness.
Domain 2: Design data storage solutions (22.5% of the exam)
Design data storage solutions for relational data
- Recommend a solution for storing relational data
- Recommend a database service tier and compute tier
- Recommend a solution for database scalability
- Recommend a solution for data protection
Section summary: This section is centered on choosing relational database storage and optimization strategies. You'll make recommendations for the most appropriate Azure database services, tiers, and scaling measures that ensure performance under load. You will also consider data protection practices that protect relational assets against failures.
At the same time, this section highlights how to deliver reliable data architectures. That includes knowing when to scale databases vertically or horizontally, along with optimizing performance and cost. By mastering these concepts, you’ll be able to design relational solutions that serve both current and future demands.
Design data storage solutions for semi-structured and unstructured data
- Recommend a solution for storing semi-structured data
- Recommend a solution for storing unstructured data
- Recommend a data storage solution to balance features, performance, and costs
- Recommend a data solution for protection and durability
Section summary: This section expands focus to non-relational data, with emphasis on semi-structured and unstructured formats. You'll recommend services like Azure Blob Storage and Cosmos DB based on requirements and cost-efficient strategies. Durability and long-term protection are also critical in your design.
Through exploration, you'll discover how to balance features versus cost and identify when a given service is best suited for large or varying data sets. The insights from this section make it possible to present optimal designs that fit business needs while avoiding unnecessary spend.
Design data integration
- Recommend a solution for data integration
- Recommend a solution for data analysis
Section summary: You will need to recommend strategies for integration and analytics solutions in Azure. This includes planning for how data moves across systems and identifying the right tools to harmonize diverse sources.
This portion also gives attention to analyzing data at scale, enabling organizations to pull insights that fuel decision-making. You’ll be able to design streamlined pipelines that transform data into actionable knowledge suited for business and technical audiences.
Domain 3: Design business continuity solutions (17.5% of the exam)
Design solutions for backup and disaster recovery
- Recommend a recovery solution for Azure and hybrid workloads that meets recovery objectives
- Recommend a backup and recovery solution for compute
- Recommend a backup and recovery solution for databases
- Recommend a backup and recovery solution for unstructured data
Section summary: Backup and disaster recovery are key for ensuring workloads remain available. In this section, you will recommend high-quality solutions that protect data across compute, databases, and unstructured formats for both Azure-native and hybrid environments.
You will also connect these strategies with recovery objectives, making sure plans actually meet the needs of the organization. Ultimately, this topic equips you to deliver designs that keep environments resilient, even when disruptions occur.
Design for high availability
- Recommend a high availability solution for compute
- Recommend a high availability solution for relational data
- Recommend a high availability solution for semi-structured and unstructured data
Section summary: High availability planning ensures workloads continue running with minimal interruption. Here, you'll recommend solutions across compute, relational, and unstructured data. Solutions will include scaling, redundancy, and effective failover approaches that align with business priorities.
The focus is always on operational continuity and achieving strong service levels. By the end, you will be comfortable providing holistic high availability designs that are practical, reliable, and future-focused.
Domain 4: Design infrastructure solutions (32.5% of the exam)
Design compute solutions
- Specify components of a compute solution based on workload requirements
- Recommend a virtual machine-based solution
- Recommend a container-based solution
- Recommend a serverless-based solution
- Recommend a compute solution for batch processing
Section summary: Compute solutions are a core focus of the exam. This section asks you to identify the right type of compute based on workload requirements and decide between virtual machines, containers, or serverless services. Batch processing design also plays a role, ensuring efficiency for large-scale tasks.
The value here comes from recognizing how different compute options balance requirements for control, scalability, agility, and cost. With this expertise, you’ll be able to tailor designs for diverse organizational scenarios.
Design an application architecture
- Recommend a messaging architecture
- Recommend an event-driven architecture
- Recommend a solution for API integration
- Recommend a caching solution for applications
- Recommend an application configuration management solution
- Recommend an automated deployment solution for applications
Section summary: This section immerses you in modern application architecture patterns. Your focus will be on messaging, event-driven designs, APIs, caching, and scalable deployments. By aligning solutions to these patterns, you ensure applications perform well and remain adaptable.
In addition, managing configuration and automating deployment strategies is key to fast feedback and agile delivery in Azure. By learning this, you’ll be well-positioned to create solutions that are both innovative and reliable.
Design migrations
- Evaluate a migration solution that leverages the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure
- Evaluate on-premises servers, data, and applications for migration
- Recommend a solution for migrating workloads to infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS)
- Recommend a solution for migrating databases
- Recommend a solution for migrating unstructured data
Section summary: Migration solutions make it possible to transition workloads smoothly to Azure. In this area, you'll evaluate on-premises resources and recommend practical strategies to move them into cloud environments. Key decisions will involve choosing between IaaS and PaaS deployments.
It also emphasizes frameworks like the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework, which guides safe and effective transitions. By understanding these migration strategies, you’ll help organizations modernize without disruption.
Design network solutions
- Recommend a connectivity solution that connects Azure resources to the internet
- Recommend a connectivity solution that connects Azure resources to on-premises networks
- Recommend a solution to optimize network performance
- Recommend a solution to optimize network security
- Recommend a load-balancing and routing solution
Section summary: Network design connects all parts of a solution together. This section requires you to recommend connectivity solutions for both Azure-to-internet and Azure-to-on-premises scenarios. Optimizations for performance, load balancing, and routing are a strong part of this design area.
You will also need to secure these networks with appropriate defense measures. With network design expertise, you’ll confidently create topologies that align with modern governance and resiliency needs.
Who should consider the Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certification?
The Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certification is perfect for professionals who want to design and implement advanced cloud infrastructure solutions on Microsoft Azure. It is especially well-suited for those in technical leadership roles who bridge the gap between business strategy and cloud architecture.
This certification is aimed at experienced IT professionals who are already comfortable with Azure administration, development, and DevOps practices. If you regularly advise stakeholders, translate business requirements into Azure designs, or collaborate with developers, administrators, and security engineers, this exam is a great fit.
By earning this certification, you demonstrate that you can successfully design and deliver secure, scalable, and reliable solutions across compute, networking, storage, monitoring, and security in Microsoft Azure.
What are the job opportunities with an Azure Solutions Architect Expert credential?
With this certification, you position yourself for some of the most in-demand and rewarding careers in the cloud industry. Certified solution architects are highly valued as they provide end-to-end expertise in mapping strategic needs to Azure-based solutions.
Common job roles include:
- Cloud Solutions Architect
- Enterprise Architect
- Azure Infrastructure Architect
- Cloud Consultant
- Technical Cloud Lead
Beyond job titles, this certification signals to employers that you can take on responsibilities such as designing hybrid and cloud-native applications, ensuring governance and security, overseeing business continuity, and guiding organizations through large-scale migrations.
What is the exam code and version for Azure Solutions Architect Expert?
The exam for this certification is coded as AZ-305: Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions. This is the current and active version of the exam.
The AZ-305 exam validates your advanced ability to design solutions that use Azure services effectively for identity, governance, monitoring, infrastructure, business continuity, and data storage. Always make sure your study resources specifically cover AZ-305 so you are preparing with the correct content.
How much does the Azure Solutions Architect Expert exam cost?
The cost of the Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert exam is 165 USD in the United States. Prices can vary slightly depending on the region where you’re taking the exam, and applicable local taxes may apply.
For many, the investment in this exam brings strong returns, as it confirms expertise that is globally recognized and highly sought after. Some organizations may even cover the exam fee for employees as part of their training budget, making it a worthwhile discussion with your employer.
How long does the AZ-305 exam last?
The official exam time length is 120 minutes. During this time, you’ll be expected to work through a series of scenario-based, multiple-choice, and multiple-response questions totaling 60 questions.
Because the questions often come in the form of case studies or real-life architectural scenarios, it’s important to pace yourself carefully. Having hands-on Azure experience can really help you navigate the test more efficiently within the allotted time.
What is the passing score for Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert?
The passing score is 700 out of 1000. Microsoft’s scoring model is compensatory, which means you don’t need to pass each section individually. Instead, your overall score across all weighted domains will determine whether you pass.
This approach allows you to make up for weaker areas as long as your strengths in other topics balance things out. By focusing your preparation broadly across all the key design domains, you’ll set yourself up for a confident pass.
How many questions are on the AZ-305 exam?
The AZ-305 exam includes 60 questions. These questions are a blend of multiple-choice and multi-response, with many presented in the form of practical scenarios that require you to recommend the best Azure architecture design.
Some questions may also take the form of case studies, where you’re given a business scenario and must choose solutions that best align with requirements for scalability, security, and performance. This ensures that the exam reflects real-world architect responsibilities.
Is the Azure Solutions Architect Expert exam available in multiple languages?
Yes, the exam is available in a broad range of languages, making it accessible to professionals around the world. In addition to English, you can take the exam in Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Arabic (Saudi Arabia), Russian, Chinese (Traditional), Italian, and Indonesian.
If your preferred language is not listed, Microsoft often provides the option to request an additional 30 minutes of exam time, making sure you have every opportunity to succeed.
What skills are measured in the Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert exam?
The exam measures your ability to design infrastructure and solutions across four major domains:
- Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions (25–30%)
- Design data storage solutions (20–25%)
- Design business continuity solutions (15–20%)
- Design infrastructure solutions (30–35%)
Within each domain, you’ll recommend logging and monitoring solutions, propose identity and access management approaches, design disaster recovery strategies, and evaluate workloads for migration. These domains reflect exactly how solution architects operate in complex business scenarios using Azure.
What topics should you prioritize while preparing for the AZ-305 exam?
When studying, it’s important to focus on key architectural responsibilities. These include:
- Designing for high availability, backup, and disaster recovery
- Recommending authentication and authorization solutions
- Evaluating workloads for migration to Azure infrastructure as a service (IaaS) or platform as a service (PaaS)
- Designing monitoring and logging solutions using Azure Monitor and related services
- Structuring governance through management groups, policies, and tagging
By mastering these areas, you’ll be prepared not just for the exam but also for effective day-to-day solution architect responsibilities.
Does the exam test knowledge on both cloud and hybrid deployments?
Yes. The AZ-305 exam covers both cloud-only solutions and hybrid solutions that connect Azure to on-premises environments. For example, you might be asked to recommend solutions for identity that span on-premises Active Directory and Azure Active Directory.
This reflects the reality that many organizations are in hybrid states of cloud adoption, and Azure Solutions Architects must be well-equipped to design for both environments.
How is business continuity addressed in the AZ-305 exam?
The business continuity section (15–20%) tests your ability to recommend solutions for high availability, backups, and disaster recovery. This includes strategies for compute, relational databases, semi-structured data, and unstructured storage like Azure Blob.
Being able to design recovery strategies that meet recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) is crucial to passing this portion of the exam because it directly impacts organizational resilience.
What types of compute solutions are included in the exam?
As part of the “Design infrastructure solutions” domain, you’ll need to recommend compute options across Azure services. This includes when to use virtual machines, containers, serverless functions, and batch processing solutions.
You might be asked, for example, to design a solution for a high-scale event-driven app and determine whether to recommend Azure Functions, Kubernetes Service, or App Service based on the workload’s needs.
Is there a prerequisite for the Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification?
Yes. To earn the Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification, Microsoft requires that you already hold a prerequisite associate-level certification. This ensures you’ve demonstrated foundational Azure knowledge before moving forward into this advanced expert-level credential.
Additionally, you should have strong experience in IT operations, networking, security, virtualization, disaster recovery, governance, and data platforms. These are the real-world skills that the exam builds upon.
How difficult is the Microsoft AZ-305 exam?
The AZ-305 exam is a professional-level certification, meaning it expects you to demonstrate depth in architecture and design. However, with the right preparation, many candidates find it manageable and rewarding.
By studying the four exam domains thoroughly, practicing real-world design scenarios, and using hands-on Azure experience, you’ll be well-prepared to succeed. Many professionals find that the process of preparing for the exam itself dramatically improves their Azure solution design skills.
Is hands-on Azure experience important for passing the AZ-305 exam?
Yes, Microsoft recommends significant hands-on experience in Azure before attempting the AZ-305 exam. While study guides and practice assessments are excellent resources, nothing replaces real-world experience designing, implementing, and troubleshooting Azure solutions.
Whether you experiment with Azure services in a sandbox environment or apply them in a professional setting, this practical knowledge ensures you can confidently evaluate solution design options during the test.
How can I best prepare for the Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert exam?
The most effective preparation combines study resources with hands-on practice. Start with official learning paths on Microsoft Learn, review the latest study guide for AZ-305, and make use of exam prep videos and practice assessments.
To build confidence and accuracy ahead of test day, practice with top-rated Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert practice exams that mirror the real test environment and include detailed explanations. This helps you strengthen your problem-solving skills across scenario-based questions.
How long is the Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification valid?
Microsoft certifications follow an annual renewal cycle. Once certified, you’ll need to renew each year to keep the credential active.
The good news is that renewals are free and handled through online assessments on Microsoft Learn. This process helps ensure that your certification stays aligned with Azure’s evolving features and best practices.
What should I do after achieving the Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification?
After earning this certification, you can further specialize in specific areas of Azure or pursue adjacent certifications. This includes:
- Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert for those interested in security design
- Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert for professionals focused on automation and collaboration
- Advanced specialty certifications such as Azure AI Engineer or Azure Data Engineer if you want to branch into other solution areas
Expanding your certification portfolio helps you continue growing in your career and align with evolving industry demand.
Where can I sit for the AZ-305 exam?
You can register to take the exam either online with remote proctoring or in person at a certified testing center. Online proctoring allows you to take the exam from the comfort of your own space, provided you meet the proctoring system requirements.
In-person testing is also an excellent choice if you prefer a more traditional exam environment. Both formats are equally recognized, so choose the one that makes you most comfortable.
How do I officially register for the Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification exam?
To register, simply visit the official Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect certification page. There you can connect your profile, schedule your exam, select your delivery options (online or in-person), and complete your payment securely.
This page also offers helpful resources about exam policies, available languages, and certification details. Registering in advance is always a smart idea so you can plan your study journey with confidence.
