My preparation to become a Microsoft 365 Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert!

MVP

 

Dear Microsoft 365 Friends,

 

My goal is to become Microsoft 365 Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert! To achieve this goal two exams are necessary. The MS-100 and MS-101 exam. In addition, just one of the following prerequisite exams is required to ultimately earn the certification:

 

- Microsoft 365 Certified: Modern Desktop Administrator Associate
- Microsoft 365 Certified: Security Administrator Associate
- Microsoft 365 Certified: Messaging Administrator Associate
- Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate

 

(IMPORTANT: You must have completed only one of the above exams.)

 

The MS-500 (Microsoft 365 Certified: Security Administrator Associate) was a great help for this exam. I can absolutely recommend the MS-500 as preparation for the MS-101!

 

I describe the MS-500 exam in this article.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365/how-i-prepared-for-the-microsoft-365-certified-...

 

The MS-100 exam is described in this article.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365/this-was-my-preparation-for-the-microsoft-365-i...

 

But now to the MS-101 exam. As always, I first read the "Skills measured" very carefully. Honestly I was not surprised about the massive number of different subjects. It was immediately clear to me, now it starts with the learning marathon! Let's go!

 

Now let's go through my checklist:

 

1. First of all, I looked at the Exam Topics to get a first impression of the scope of topics. These are really very extensive.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/ms-101

 

2. So that I can prepare for an exam I need a test environment (this is indispensable for me). You can sign up for a free trial here.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/compare-all-microsoft-365-business-products

 

I chose the "Microsoft 365 Business Premium" plan for my testing. To try out all the features, I set up a trial version of Microsoft 365 E5 (additionally added).

 

3. Now it goes to the Microsoft Learn content. These learn paths (as you can see below) I have worked through completely and "mapped"/reconfigured as much as possible in my test environment.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/manage-enterprise-deployment-m365/

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/m365-cloud-security/

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/m365-security-threat-protection/

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/m365-security-management/

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/manage-security-operations/

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/m365-messaging-secure-environment/

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/m365-compliance-information/

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/audit-safeguard-customer-data/

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/compliance-discover/

 

4. Register for the exam early. This creates some pressure and you stay motivated

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/ms-101

 

5. This link describes the skills assessed on the MS-101 exam.

https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE3VEHZ

 

6. Further I can only recommend to read as many Microsoft Docs articles as possible. These have helped me extremely in preparing for the exam. Like for example:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender/microsoft-365-defender?view=o365-wo...

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender/overview-security-center?view=o365-...

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender/eval-overview?view=o365-worldwide

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/enterprise-mobility-security/remote-work/

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure-advanced-threat-protection/what-is-atp

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/office-365-security/defender-for-office-365?...

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender-endpoint/microsoft-defender-endpoin...

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/security-center/security-center-intro

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud-app-security/what-is-cloud-app-security

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender/microsoft-secure-score?view=o365-wo...

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/sentinel/overview

 

7. I also created two folders (MS-100 and MS-101) in the following GitHub repository. Each of them contains a text file with additional links that I used for my preparation.

https://github.com/tomwechsler/Microsoft_365_Identity_Services

 

I know you've probably read and heard this many times: read the exam questions slowly and accurately. Well, that was the key to success for me. It's the details that make the difference between success and failure. I would like to give you a few examples:

 

1. For example, if 2 retention labels are applied to the same object (Label1 Retention 5 years and Label2 delete after 2 Years), you need to know that retention has precedence.

 

2. Several eDiscovery cases were opened by different users. User1 wants to delete Case3 (opened by User3), but he can only do this if he is eDiscover administrator. So here it is important to know the different roles.

 

3. The Conditional Access Policies are very popular exam questions, here you should really know the details. For example, what is set for "Cloud apps or actions" or for "Conditions", "Access controls", etc.

 

Please take a close look at the details!

 

One final tip: When you have learned something new, try to explain what you have learned to another person (whether or not they know your subject). If you can explain it in your own words, you understand the subject. That is exactly how I do it, except that I do not explain it to another person, but record a video for YouTube!

 

I hope this information helps you and that you successfully pass the exam. I wish you success!

 

Kind regards, Tom Wechsler

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