Azure Skilling at Microsoft Ignite 2025
The energy at Microsoft Ignite was unmistakable. Developers, architects, and technical decision-makers converged in San Francisco to explore the latest innovations in cloud technology, AI applications, and data platforms. Beyond the keynotes and product announcements was something even more valuable: an integrated skilling ecosystem designed to transform how you build with Azure. This year Azure Skilling at Microsoft Ignite 2025 brought together distinct learning experiences, over 150+ hands-on labs, and multiple pathways to industry-recognized credentials—all designed to help you master skills that matter most in today's AI-driven cloud landscape. Just Launched at Ignite Microsoft Ignite 2025 offered an exceptional array of learning opportunities, each designed to meet developers anywhere on the skilling journey. Whether you joined us in-person or on-demand in the virtual experience, multiple touchpoints are available to deepen your Azure expertise. Ignite 2025 is in the books, but you can still engage with the latest Microsoft skilling opportunities, including: The Azure Skills Challenge provides a gamified learning experience that lets you compete while completing task-based achievements across Azure's most critical technologies. These challenges aren't just about badges and bragging rights—they're carefully designed to help you advance technical skills and prepare for Microsoft role-based certifications. The competitive element adds urgency and motivation, turning learning into an engaging race against the clock and your peers. For those seeking structured guidance, Plans on Learn offer curated sets of content designed to help you achieve specific learning outcomes. These carefully assembled learning journeys include built-in milestones, progress tracking, and optional email reminders to keep you on track. Each plan represents 12-15 hours of focused learning, taking you from concept to capability in areas like AI application development, data platform modernization, or infrastructure optimization. The Microsoft Reactor Azure Skilling Series, running December 3-11, brings skilling to life through engaging video content, mixing regular programming with special Ignite-specific episodes. This series will deliver technical readiness and programming guidance in a livestream presentation that's more digestible than traditional documentation. Whether you're catching episodes live with interactive Q&A or watching on-demand later, you’ll get world-class instruction that makes complex topics approachable. Beyond Ignite: Your Continuous Learning Journey Here's the critical insight that separates Ignite attendees who transform their careers from those who simply collect swag: the real learning begins after the event ends. Microsoft Ignite is your launchpad, not your destination. Every module you start, every lab you complete, and every challenge you tackle connects to a comprehensive learning ecosystem on Microsoft Learn that's available 24/7, 365 days a year. Think of Ignite as your intensive immersion experience—the moment when you gain context, build momentum, and identify the skills that will have the biggest impact on your work. What you do in the weeks and months following determines whether that momentum compounds into career-defining expertise or dissipates into business as usual. For those targeting career advancement through formal credentials, Microsoft Certifications, Applied Skills and AI Skills Navigator, provide globally recognized validation of your expertise. Applied Skills focus on scenario-based competencies, demonstrating that you can build and deploy solutions, not simply answer theoretical questions. Certifications cover role-based scenarios for developers, data engineers, AI engineers, and solution architects. The assessment experiences include performance-based testing in dedicated Azure tenants where you complete real configuration and development tasks. And finally, the NEW AI Skills Navigator is an agentic learning space, bringing together AI-powered skilling experiences and credentials in a single, unified experience with Microsoft, LinkedIn Learning and GitHub – all in one spot Why This Matters: The Competitive Context The cloud skills race is intensifying. While our competitors offer robust training and content, Microsoft's differentiation comes not from having more content—though our 1.4 million module completions last fiscal year and 35,000+ certifications awarded speak to scale—but from integration of services to orchestrate workflows. Only Microsoft offers a truly unified ecosystem where GitHub Copilot accelerates your development, Azure AI services power your applications, and Azure platform services deploy and scale your solutions—all backed by integrated skilling content that teaches you to maximize this connected experience. When you continue your learning journey after Ignite, you're not just accumulating technical knowledge. You're developing fluency in an integrated development environment that no competitor can replicate. You're learning to leverage AI-powered development tools, cloud-native architectures, and enterprise-grade security in ways that compound each other's value. This unified expertise is what transforms individual developers into force-multipliers for their organizations. Start Now, Build Momentum, Never Stop Microsoft Ignite 2025 offered the chance to compress months of learning into days of intensive, hands-on experience, but you can still take part through the on-demand videos, the Global Ignite Skills Challenge, visiting the GitHub repos for the /Ignite25 labs, the Reactor Azure Skilling Series, and the curated Plans on Learn provide multiple entry points regardless of your current skill level or preferred learning style. But remember: the developers who extract the most value from Ignite are those who treat the event as the beginning, not the culmination, of their learning journey. They join hackathons, contribute to GitHub repositories, and engage with the Azure community on Discord and technical forums. The question isn't whether you'll learn something valuable from Microsoft Ignite 2025-that's guaranteed. The question is whether you'll convert that learning into sustained momentum that compounds over months and years into career-defining expertise. The ecosystem is here. The content is ready. Your skilling journey doesn't end when Ignite does—it accelerates.The Next One - SC200 Courseware unusable
Hi All, we are trying to deliver SC200 course. Out MCTs tell us the courseware is not working at all. Video Links are not working eg. (Playback Error - We are sorry something went wrong) https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/videoplayer/embed/RE4yiO5?rel=0&postJsllMsg=true https://www.microsoft.com/videoplayer/embed/RE4bOeh?rel=0 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/videoplayer/embed/RE4bGqo?rel=0&postJsllMsg=true AHL Labs are not working because of cloud slice architecture We (the MCts) use hours to find out how the lab should work in ALH Labs. Missing Permissions Wrong Links I cannot find any contact to get answers to these issues? Can anyone give hints how to discuss these topic. Just to play ping-pong between ALH and "Content Creators" (1 Month Feedback Time) and getting no resolution doesn´t help here. Can you please get back to a working environment. (Full Azure Access, Real World Training Situations) Not a Video Here, a Simulation There. Regards, MarioWhat is the right forum for Courseware/Labs Support right now?
Hi All, we are trying to deliver SC200 course. Out MCTs tell us the courseware is not working at all. Video Links are not working eg. (Playback Error - We are sorry something went wrong) https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/videoplayer/embed/RE4yiO5?rel=0&postJsllMsg=true https://www.microsoft.com/videoplayer/embed/RE4bOeh?rel=0 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/videoplayer/embed/RE4bGqo?rel=0&postJsllMsg=true AHL Labs are not working because of cloud slice architecture We (the MCts) use hours to find out how the lab should work in ALH Labs. Missing Permissions Wrong Links I cannot find any contact to get answers to these issues? Can anyone give hints how to discuss these topic. Just to play ping-pong between ALH and "Content Creators" (1 Month Feedback Time) and getting no resolution doesn´t help here. Can you please get back to a working environment. (Full Azure Access, Real World Training Situations) Not a Video Here, a Simulation There. Regards, Mario
Gaining Confidence with Az CLI and Az PowerShell: Introducing What if & Export Bicep
Ever hesitated before hitting Enter on a command, wondering what changes it might make? You’re not alone. Whether you’re deploying resources or updating configurations, the fear of unintended consequences can slow you down. That’s why we’re introducing new powerful features in Azure CLI and Azure PowerShell to preview the changes the commands may make: the What if and Export Bicep features. These capabilities allow you to preview the impact of your commands and allow you to export them as Bicep templates, all before making any changes to your Azure environment. Think of them as your safety net: you can validate actions, confirm resource changes, and even generate reusable infrastructure-as-code templates with confidence. Currently, these features are in private preview, and we’re excited to share how you can get early access. Why This Matters Reduce risk: Avoid accidental resource deletions or costly misconfigurations. Build confidence: Understand exactly what your command will do before execution. Accelerate adoption of IaC: Convert CLI commands into Bicep templates automatically. Improve productivity: Validate scripts quickly without trial-and-error deployments. How It Works What if preview of commands All you have to do is add the `--what-if` parameter to Azure CLI commands and then the `-DryRun` command to Azure PowerShell commands like below. Azure CLI: az storage account create --name "mystorageaccount" --resource-group "myResourceGroup" --location "eastus" --what-if Azure PowerShell: New-AzVirtualNetwork -name MyVNET -ResourceGroupName MyResourceGroup -Location eastus -AddressPrefix "10.0.0.0/16" -DryRun Exporting commands to Bicep To generate bicep from the command you will have to add the `--export-bicep` command with the --what-if parameter to generate a bicep file. The bicep code will be saved under the `~/.azure/whatif` directory on your machine. The command will specific exactly where the file is saved on your machine. Behind the scenes, AI translates your CLI command into Bicep code, creating a reusable template for future deployments. After generating the Bicep file, the CLI automatically runs a What-If analysis on the Bicep template to show you the expected changes before applying them. Here is a video of it in action! Here is another example where there is delete, modify and create actions happening all together. Private Preview Access These features are available in private preview. To sign up: Visit the aka.ms/PreviewSignupPSCLI Submit your request for access. Once approved, you’ll receive instructions to download the preview package. Supported Commands (Private Preview) Given these features are in a preview we have only added support for a small set of commands for the time being. Here’s a list of commands that will support these features during the private preview: Azure CLI Az vm create Az vm update az storage account create az storage container create az storage share create az network vnet create az network vnet update az storage account network-rule add az vm disk attach az vm disk detach az vm nic remove Azure PowerShell New-AzVM Update-AzVM New-AzStorageAccount New-AzRmStorageShare New-AzRmStorageContainer New-AzVirtualNetwork Set-AzVirtualNetwork Add-AzStorageAccountNetworkRule Next Steps Sign up for the private preview. Install the packages using the upcoming script. Start using --what-if, -DryRun, and --export-bicep to make safer, smarter decisions and accelerate your IaC journey. Give us feedback on what you think of the feature! At https://aka.ms/PreviewFeedbackWhatIf Thanks so much! Steven Bucher PM for Azure Client ToolsMCT New and Renewing MCTs - Update July 26
Updated July 26, 2025 As we step into FY26 on July 1st, 2025, I want to share some important updates regarding the MCT Program—especially for those planning to renew. New Fees Coming October 2025, no exact date and the cost will be shared at a later date. Starting July 1st, 2025, we will introduce: A renewal fee (ecommerce tool will be available in October 2025 for everyone to renew) A new MCT enrollment fee (ecommerce tool will be available in October 2025 for new MCTs) Our systems are currently being updated to support this change, with the new tool expected to launch in October 2025. More to come on costs. Pricing will be region supported. Session Requirement for Renewal Effective January 1st, 2026, MCTs will be required to complete six (6) sessions or six (6) days of training per calendar year to qualify for renewal. For clarity on what qualifies as a session, please refer to the attached PDF: Mandatory Use of MTM We will be enforcing stricter requirements for using Metrics That Matter (MTM) to log sessions with your Training Services Partner (TSP). Please coordinate with your TSPs to ensure MTM is being used correctly. What to Expect Next More details on program costs will be shared closer to the tool’s release. All MCTs that were MCTs before manual enrollment have been extended through January 1st, 2026, with full benefits. You’ll see this extension reflected in your profile in your MCT Trainer History NOT active certification. All current MCTs will be able to renew when the tool is available in October 2025 and the requirement to renew will be to have an active certification and have taught one class since your last renewal and pay the renewal fee (costs to come later). We will be checking that you have taught the one class using MTM. New MCTs will need ISC certificate, one role-based active certification and pay the MCT new enrollment fee. New MCT Enrollment Process | Microsoft Learn 🙏 Thank you for your continued support and patience as we enhance our systems. Here’s to a successful and impactful FY26!
Custom data collection in MDE - what is default?
So you just announced the preview of "Custom data collection in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (Preview)" which lets me ingest custom data to sentinel. Is there also an overview of what is default and what I can add? e.g. we want to examine repeating disconnects from AzureVPN clients (yes, it's most likely just Microsoft's fault, as the app ratings show 'everyone' is having them) How do I know which data I can add to DeviceCustomNetworkEvents which isnt already in DeviceNetworkEvents?
Achievement Code are not correctly reflecting in the Partner Center from March
We are Microsoft partner, we have registered for training services competency. Our exam purchase is reflecting on partner center but achievement codes and metric that matter feedback response is not reflecting on partner center. The achievement codes were redeemed by our students from March. can you please help! thanks, Rizwan
