New certification: Microsoft Power Platform Solution Architect Expert

[NancyTandy]

We’re pleased to announce the new Microsoft Certified: Power Platform Solution Architect Expert certification, giving you the opportunity to prove your expertise in architecting solutions using Microsoft Power Platform. To earn this certification, you must pass Exam PL-600: Microsoft Power Platform Solution Architect and earn at least one of the following certifications: 

• Microsoft Certified: Power Platform Functional Consultant Associate 
• Microsoft Certified: Power Platform Developer Associate

Exam PL-600 is replacing Exam MB-600 on June 30, 2021

Exam PL-600 replaces Exam MB-600: Microsoft Dynamics 365 + Power Platform Solution Architect, which expires on June 30, 2021. After that date, MB-600 will no longer be available for you to take—only PL-600 will be. If you’re currently preparing for MB-600, make sure you take and pass that exam before June 30, 2021. When you pass Exam PL-600 and earn one of the prerequisite certification options, you’ll have earned your Microsoft Power Platform Solution Architect Expert certification, and it will be valid for a full year.

Give your career a boost

Getting advanced training and certification in Microsoft Power Platform can help you improve your business and expand your opportunities to get hired and promoted. An increasing number of job listings on LinkedIn, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and other sites list proficiency in Microsoft Power Platform as part of the job description. And, according to the 2020/2021 Nigel Frank Microsoft Dynamics Salary Survey, 61 percent of respondents believe that certifications give you the edge in the job market, and 73 percent of permanent employees reported that their salary increased after certification.

Is this certification right for you? 

Do you have experience performing proactive and preventive work to increase the value of your customers’ investment? Are you able to identify opportunities to solve business problems? Do you promote organizational health in your engagements? If this describes you and you want to brush up on these skills, why not take training that can help you earn certification as a Microsoft Power Platform Solution Architect Expert?

To pursue this advanced certification, you must have experience leading successful implementations and an ability to focus on solutions that address the broader business and technical needs of an organization. You should have functional and technical knowledge of Microsoft Power Platform, Dynamics 365 customer engagement apps, related cloud solutions from Microsoft, and third-party technologies. In addition to having experience across Microsoft Power Platform, you should be able to facilitate design decisions across development, configuration, integration, infrastructure, security, availability, storage, and change management.

Are you eager to sit for the exam? Your experience with the following tasks is the background you need to take the exam and get a certification that validates your skills:

• Initiate solution planning and identify Microsoft Power Platform components.
• Identify organization information and metrics.
• Evaluate an organization’s enterprise architecture.
• Capture requirements and perform gap analysis.
• Architect a solution.
• Lead the design process, and use Power Automate in your automation strategy.
• Design integrations.
• Identify opportunities to integrate and extend Microsoft Power Platform solutions by using Azure.
• Design the data and security models.
• Validate the solution design.
• Support and troubleshoot the solution as it goes live.

Preparing for certification

Start your Microsoft Certification journey today! The resources section on the certification page contains valuable help to get you ready for the certification exam. There, you’ll  find links to the free online learning paths and paid instructor-led training offered by Microsoft Learning Partners that help you prepare for this exam, along with a link for scheduling the exam.  

[leourbano]

it's great.

[MatthewZelt]

Will the beta be in March, or will that come before?

[fahadalishaikh]

This is good to see. What about a Solution Architect certification for AI? 

[diodin]

Is there going to be some transition possibility for people who are already certified Microsoft Dynamics 365 + Power Platform Solution Architect (MB-600)? I took the required MB exams. Do I now have to take PL-400 + PL-600 again?

[NancyTandy]

@MatthewZelt - yes, Beta should be sometime in March.  

[NancyTandy]

@fahadalishaikh  no plans right now for Solution Architect for AI but stay tuned, that could change.

[NancyTandy]

@diodin  you will be able to do the renewal for the solution architect next year.  Read the blog: Stay current with in-demand skills through free certification renewals - Microsoft Tech Community  for more information about renewing.

[Thomas_INDOCS]

@NancyTandy What does this mean for the Power Apps advanced specialisation  requirements in the Partner Program?

[NancyTandy]

Hi Tomas_INDOCS The following Low Code Application Development advanced specialization learning path is a great resource and should answer your questions.  Low Code Application Development advanced specialization (microsoft.com)

[NancyTandy]

@brynhh 

Thanks for your comments.  Microsoft Learn content or learning paths will not be enough to prepare you for the exam.  The learning path should be part of your preparation for the exam but not solely the only thing you do.  We also recommend taking an Instructor Led Course with one of our learning partners.   You should review the skills outline document located on each certification page carefully.  It will tell you what to expect on each exam.  The exam focuses on the Power Platform in the context of Dynamics 365 applications.  While we will still cover the Dynamics 365 model-driven application it is less of a focus than the previous exam and why there were only a few questions.

Hope that helps.

[brynhh]

@NancyTandyThanks for replying. To try and address each of your points:

I'm aware MS Learn shouldn't be considered the only method to prepare and personal experience, practice exams, etc are also required. I've worked with PP for a couple of years so the MS Learn material for 900, 100 and 200 was plugging the gaps and confirming already established concepts, so sitting the exam wasn't too stressful.

I've checked the skills outline PDF and there's no mention of D365 applications in 200, so having 8 questions (18%) that ask about specific app features that are nothing whatsoever to do with PP is a little worrying. PL-600 outline only says "design integrations between Power Platform solutions and Dynamics 365 apps" which implies PP tools to enchance D365 data, like Power Automate processing, Power Apps interfaces, BI reports.

Is the above what you mean by "The exam focuses on the Power Platform in the context of Dynamics 365 applications"? Also, I'm a little confused by "While we will still cover the Dynamics 365 model-driven application it is less of a focus than the previous exam and why there were only a few questions." Model-Driven is in reference to Power Apps and the alternative to Canvas is it not? And do you mean it's less of a focus in 600 compared to 200 and 400? Or in 200 compared to 100?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks if you can provide input. Where I work, we have specialist staff for PP (myself) and D365/CRM (2 others), as they are sibling tools and both very large. So we'd expect the certifications to focus on those specialisms (PP in this case) and feel a little sideswiped by some of the questions, which then potentially puts me off sitting 400 or 600 even if I were to have enough PP experience.

[NancyTandy]

@brynhh   I just checked with our content development team and they had some internal feedback on this same topic and prompted a review fo every item that mentions Dynamics 365 and ended up removing content.  This will be reflected shortly in the exam and OD.

[brynhh]

@NancyTandyThanks very much for your reply. If this is to be reflected in PL-600, will it be for when it launches, or later? Or are they just changing PL-100, 200 and 400?

Also what does OD stand for?

Thanks again

James

[Sang_Park]

Good morning, @NancyTandy NancyTandy. I became a Microsoft Certified Dynamics 365 + Power Platform Solution Architect Expert in January 2021 by passing the PL-200, PL-400 and MB-600 exams. Since MB-600 exam will be retired in June this year, do I need to take the PL-600 exam to renew my Solution Architect Expert status on this Power Platform subject? Since mine will be expired 2 years from January 2021, I am just curious about my Microsoft Certified Dynamics 365 + Power Platform Solution Architect Expert  renewal process approximately 1.5 year later (6 months before the expiration date). I would like to know if it would be better for me to take the PL-600 (just in case) when it becomes available in BETA later this month OR if Microsoft already has any “plan” for the people like me regarding the MB-600 retirement & the PL-600 replacement at this time. Please let me know. 

[KoprowskiT]

@brynhh There is a more important problem with your post. Apart of your complain about content in the exam (I've many times content outside of official exam topics, over my exam). It is mentioned in materials: "exam would contain topic xxx bt not excluded to..." So it always could be more and wider than you expect. 

But for me, the biggest problem is that you actually broke NDA which you signed just before the exam.

If a candidate violates any testing rule, exam policy, or term within the exam agreement (NDA), or engages in any misconduct that diminishes the security and integrity of the Microsoft Certification Program in any way, the candidate may be permanently prohibited from taking any future Microsoft Certification exams. In addition, the candidate may be decertified from the Microsoft Certification Program, and test scores and certifications may be revoked.

Examples of such misconduct, misuse, and fraud include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Falsifying score reports, by modifying and/or altering the original results/score reports for any exam record
• Cheating during the exam (such as looking at the monitors of other exam takers, using an unauthorized device, or looking at notes)
• Providing or accepting improper assistance
• Bringing non-authorized items into the testing center during an exam session (such as notes or unauthorized materials and electronic devices, such as cell phones)
• Using unauthorized material in attempting to satisfy certification requirements (this includes using "brain-dump" material and/or unauthorized publication of exam questions with or without answers)
• Falsifying identity or impersonating another individual to gain access to an exam
• Misconduct as determined by statistical analysis
• Copying, publishing, disclosing, transmitting, selling, offering to sell, posting, downloading, distributing in any way, or otherwise transferring, modifying, making derivative works of, reverse engineering, decompiling, disassembling, or translating any exam in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, verbal or written, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose
• Disclosing Microsoft intellectual property (IP)
• Disseminating actual exam content
• Using the exam content in any manner that violates applicable law
• Violating the current exam retake policy
• Violating the Microsoft non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in any way
• Violating the agreement with the exam delivery provider in any way

[brynhh]

@KoprowskiTThat's exactly why I didn't post what the questions were about, just that they were around a topic that didn't seem appropriate and therefore highlighting a potentially serious issue. Can you tell me which specific point you think I've breached, rather than copying and pasting the entire thing which appears to just be trying to get me into trouble?

@NancyTandydidn't seem to have a problem with my messages on here and we had a good discussion, plus it now seems like the exams are being updated, which implies Microsoft have determined there was an issue with the content. Therefore this will be for the benefit of everyone sitting exams in the future and not potentially failing due to unexpected questions. But if she thinks they should be removed, I'd be more than happy for her or a moderator to do so, as there was no ill intent, which is fairly obviously to see upon reading my comments in detail.