A few thoughts and information about the possibility of renewing Microsoft certifications!
First of all, many, many thanks to Microsoft and Microsoft Learn for giving us the opportunity to renew the certifications for free (this fact alone should be enough that no more words are needed).
Dear friends of Microsoft certification,
Honestly, I'm a big fan of certifications. Whether they are from Microsoft, LPI, Cisco, CompTIA or any other vendor. From my perspective, the certifications give us the opportunity:
- Learn new content
- Stay up to date
- Accept challenges
- Prove the skills
- etc.
You may be wondering now why is he writing this article. An absolutely legitimate question. I move around a lot on different community platforms. Now I have summarized a few statements from various people from these platforms who have commented on the renewal of Microsoft certifications.
Here are a few "gems":
1. The translation of these Microsoft renewal exam questions are appalling
2. This is not a challenge this exam renewal from Microsoft, everything is "open book"
3. These renewals are pointless and the value of certification is plummeting
These were just a few examples.
To repeat: We are given the opportunity by Microsoft to renew the certification for free....FREE OF CHARGE....!!
So how can you complain about the translation? It's really a mystery to me! Certification renewal is easy because these are "open book". Honestly, is that primarily what it's about? No, from my point of view, it's about getting back to the content and reading/learning the "subject matter". This offers directly the opportunity to deal with the new information and to stay up to date. The importance of certification is in decline. Not at all, because first you have to pass the certification before you can renew it. Passing a certification (no matter from which provider) already connects a high value. If the certification is then renewed, this rounds everything off.
Maybe it's all a bit provocative now. But how can anyone complain when something is offered free of charge? I don't understand that.
Nevertheless, I want to take this opportunity to write to you how I prepared for the renewal of the SC-100 certification.
1. First of all, I looked at the Exam Topics to remember the topics.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/cybersecurity-architect-expert/
Please take a close look at the skills assessed:
https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RWVbXN
2. Now it goes to the Microsoft Learn content:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/sc-100-design-zero-trust-strategy-architecture/
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/sc-100-evaluate-governance-risk-compliance/
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/sc-100-design-security-for-infrastructure/
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/sc-100-design-strategy-for-data-applications/
3. I have compiled a detailed link list with more information on the various exam topics.
https://github.com/tomwechsler/Microsoft_Cloud_Security/blob/main/SC-100/Links.md
4. After that, it's time to log in to Microsoft Learn and get started with the renewal exam!
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/certifications/exams/sc-100
Thank you for taking the time to read the article. I hope this information helps you and that you successfully renew the exam. I wish you success!
Kind regards, Tom Wechsler
P.S. All scripts (#PowerShell, Azure CLI, #Terraform, #ARM) that I use can be found on github! https://github.com/tomwechsler