Successful organizations need a trusted digital foundation that helps them adapt and thrive in the fast-paced tech world. And they need professionals with the skills to help them maximize the value of their investments. Pros who work with the Microsoft Cloud have a unique opportunity to serve a full range of customer needs—from infrastructure to business applications, data & AI, productivity, communications, and more.
We’ve reviewed our training and certification portfolio, keeping in mind the feedback and insights we’ve received from learners and organizations. As a result, we’re making the following updates to Azure certifications and to support engineer certifications to help ensure that our portfolio reflects today’s in-demand roles and skills.
Updates to the Azure training and certification portfolio
Retiring the Microsoft Certified: Azure Stack Hub Operator Associate certification
Learners have pointed out how the skills required for managing hybrid clouds are broader than those required for working with the Azure Stack Hub infrastructure. In response to this feedback, we’re working on improved training and certification on hybrid cloud roles and scenarios. In the meantime, on July 31, 2023, we’ll retire the Microsoft Certified: Azure Stack Hub Operator Associate certification and its required Exam AZ-600: Configuring and Operating a Hybrid Cloud with Microsoft Azure Stack Hub.
We encourage learners who want to implement, manage, and monitor Azure environments to pursue the Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification. If their interest is in administering core and advanced Windows Server workloads and services using on-premises, hybrid, and cloud technologies, learners could also earn the Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate certification.
Retiring the Microsoft Certified: Azure IoT Developer Specialty certification
Skills needed for IoT projects cut across multiple roles, including developer, architect, administrator, and data analyst. To focus on developing a path more aligned to how real-world professionals approach IoT, on July 31, 2023, we’re retiring the Microsoft Certified: Azure IoT Developer Specialty certification and its required Exam AZ-220: Microsoft Azure IoT Developer.
Updates to the support engineer training and certification portfolio
Support engineers have deep platform skills and use their expertise to resolve difficult technical issues. These professionals drive the resolution of highly complex incidents related to solutions development and deployment. We heard your feedback on the overlap between some role-based certifications and the support certifications, noting that role-based certifications covered a broader set of skills more suitable to support roles.
Retiring the Microsoft Certified: Azure Support Engineer for Connectivity Specialty certification
To better align with today’s in-demand job skills, we’re retiring the Microsoft Certified: Azure Support Engineer for Connectivity Specialty certification and its required Exam AZ-720: Troubleshooting Microsoft Azure Connectivity on July 31, 2023.
We recommend that support engineers who plan, implement, and manage Azure networking solutions instead pursue the Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification. If they have skills in planning, implementing, and managing Azure networking solutions, the Microsoft Certified: Azure Network Engineer Associate certification could be a good next step.
Retiring the Microsoft 365 Certified: Exchange Online Support Engineer Specialty certification
In this round of portfolio updates, we’re also retiring the Microsoft 365 Certified: Exchange Online Support Engineer Specialty certification and its required Exam MS-220: Troubleshooting Microsoft Exchange Online on July 31, 2023.
We encourage support engineers who are interested in planning, deploying, and troubleshooting the messaging infrastructure in hybrid and cloud enterprise environments to instead consider pursuing the Microsoft 365 Certified: Messaging Administrator Associate certification.
Retiring the Microsoft Certified: Teams Support Engineer Specialty certification
Lastly, we’re retiring the Microsoft Certified: Teams Support Engineer Specialty certification and its required Exam MS-740: Troubleshooting Microsoft Teams on July 31, 2023. However, we recently announced the new Microsoft 365 Certified: Collaboration Communications Systems Engineer Associate certification and its required Exam MS-721: Collaboration Communications Systems Engineer, currently in beta, for engineers with a fundamental understanding of networking, telecommunications, audio/visual and meeting room technologies, and identity and access management. The new certification might be a great option for learners interested in this important role.
How might these updates impact you?
The following questions and answers can help you determine how this news impacts your learning journey:
Q. I’ve been preparing for one of the exams that’s being retired. What are my options?
A. If you’ve been preparing for Exam AZ-600: Configuring and Operating a Hybrid Cloud with Microsoft Azure Stack Hub, Exam AZ-220: Microsoft Azure IoT Developer, Exam AZ-720: Troubleshooting Microsoft Azure Connectivity, Exam MS-220: Troubleshooting Microsoft Exchange Online, or Exam MS-740: Troubleshooting Microsoft Teams, be sure to pass it on or before July 31, 2023.
- If you pass Exam AZ-600 on or before July 31, 2023, you’ll earn the Azure Stack Hub Operator Associate certification and it will be active for one year.
- If you pass Exam AZ-220 on or before July 31, 2023, you’ll earn the Azure IoT Developer Specialty certification and it will be active for one year.
- If you pass Exam AZ-720 on or before July 31, 2023, you’ll earn the Azure Support Engineer for Connectivity Specialty certification and it will be active for one year.
- If you pass Exam MS-220 on or before July 31, 2023, you’ll earn the Microsoft 365 Certified: Exchange Online Support Engineer Specialty certification and it will be active for one year.
- If you pass Exam MS-740 on or before July 31, 2023, you’ll earn the Teams Support Engineer Specialty certification and it will be active for one year.
Q. I already earned one of the certifications being retired. What happens now?
A. If you’ve already earned the Azure Stack Hub Operator Associate, Azure IoT Developer Specialty, Azure Support Engineer for Connectivity Specialty, Microsoft 365 Certified: Exchange Online Support Engineer Specialty, or Teams Support Engineer Specialty certification, it will stay on your transcript.
Q. What about renewal for these certifications?
A. Learners with an active Azure Stack Hub Operator Associate, Azure IoT Developer Specialty, Azure Support Engineer for Connectivity Specialty, Microsoft 365 Certified: Exchange Online Support Engineer Specialty, or Teams Support Engineer Specialty certification can renew it for one year (one last time) up to six months after its retirement date of July 31, 2023. The renewal window ends on January 31, 2024.
Supporting your learning journey
Whether you’re a professional working with Microsoft Azure or a support engineer resolving technical issues for your team, we want to be sure that you have the training and certification resources that you need for the next steps in your learning journey. Take the opportunity to connect with experts and peers in the new Microsoft Learn Community. And be sure to explore the many resources on Microsoft Learn—from learning paths and collections to training videos in the Exam Readiness Zone. You can even take Practice Assessments to validate your preparedness for a specific certification exam. We are in your corner, cheering you on, and will continue to invest in opportunities to help you build your skills and pursue success.