Don’t miss out on this year’s top resources for skilling up on Azure

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It’s been a big quarter for Azure learners. We’ve added dozens of opportunities aimed at helping you gain skills to confront the uncertainty in today’s market. No matter if you’re new to the IT field or more experienced, we’re here to support you in your learning journey. Discover how to take your Azure knowledge to new heights as we look back on the recently published learning resources that have been helping learners reach their goals.

Get your game on and develop a new skill in 30 days

Ready for a challenge? With the Windows Server Hybrid Administrator: 30 Days to Learn It challenge you’ll learn how to implement and manage on-premises and hybrid solutions, and perform tasks related to security, migration, and more … all in about 30 hours. Finish within that time frame and you can be eligible for 50 percent off the cost of a Microsoft Certification exam.

Check out the rest of Microsoft’s 30 Days to Learn library, and watch for a new challenge, Azure Database Administrator, coming later this month.

A faster, more flexible way to learn Azure with CLX

The rise of cloud computing has created demand for proven cloud experts. That’s why we’ve launched the Connected Learning Experience (CLX) program, designed to help aspiring learners and IT professionals become Microsoft Azure cloud pros. The four-step, completely customizable CLX program is a personalized and self-paced journey that culminates in a certificate of completion—allowing you to maximize learning while minimizing time invested. At the end of the course, you’ll also receive a 50% off voucher toward the cost of an exam.

Available CLX tracks:

• Exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
• Exam AI-900: Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals
• Exam DP-900: Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals
• Exam AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator
• Exam AZ-800: Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure
• Exam AZ-801: Windows Server Hybrid Advanced Services

New role-based Azure skilling guides

We’ve been busy adding to our series of role-based Azure Skills Navigator guides. These carefully curated ramp resources feature downloadable digital training, videos, certifications, and more, and are streamlined so you get the maximum result in the minimum amount of time. Check out this quarter’s new guides below or explore the full lineup.

Java: Discover the host of reasons why developers prefer building Java applications in Azure.

Back-up and Data Recovery: Dive into the Azure backup architecture and learn how to design your backup and recovery solution.

Network Engineers: Train yourself to recommend, plan, and implement Azure networking solutions.

More guides are coming soon, so keep checking out the full library page!

Get the inside scoop on Azure for IT professionals

Learn, connect, achieve: Inside Azure for IT is our IT engagement destination for Azure infrastructure thought leadership and skilling content. Soon we’ll be updating with product filters for easier navigation and revamping the azure.com page with updated content and resources, in addition to new skilling videos and a new episode of our fireside chat series. Plus, we’re currently in initial stages of creating an Inside Azure for IT YouTube playlist within the Azure YouTube Channel.

Learn at your own speed with self-paced training on Microsoft Learn

Access hundreds of free, interactive, self-paced learning paths and modules covering cloud computing, AI, security, databases, and other topics, all localized into multiple languages. The following are some of our recent releases:

Do More With Less: Azure training resources
Purchase Azure savings plan for compute.	Azure savings plans save you money when you have consistent usage of Azure compute resources. With our new Microsoft Learn course, you’ll learn the prerequisites for acquiring a savings plan, how to optimize a plan’s benefits, and manage and monitor your plan.
Discover new skills to navigate market uncertainty and accelerate growth	Learn how to do more with less on Azure when you migrate to the cloud, optimize your investment and reinvest for growth. This collection of resources is separated into these key themes. Find the best learning resources for you based off what the most important business outcomes are in your organization right now.
Modernize your data estate with Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform	Learn how to do more with less and move beyond the cost and complexity of point solutions with a unified data and AI platform. Adapt rapidly, add layers of intelligence to apps, generate predictive insights, and govern all your data—wherever it resides.
Discover new skills to do more with less by modernizing your infrastructure	Learn how to bring your infrastructure and apps to Azure, optimize your IT resources and investments with better visibility and automation, and ensure business continuity with built-in security and enterprise-grade back up & disaster recovery.

Learn how to migrate and save on Azure
General migration	Get a better understanding of how Azure can bring the most value to your company by building a business case. Start with an overview of the tool, then build and review your business case. Refer to these frequently asked questions for help.
SAP on Azure	Plan to deploy the Microsoft Sentinel solution for SAP. Add Sentinel during SAP migration to improve security across your SAP platform.
High-performance computing	With this introduction to the Azure high-performance computing (HPC). you’ll learn about modernizing your machine learning and rendering workloads in Azure at any scale with HPC + AI through the Cloud Adoption Framework.
	Prepare your environment for cloud adoption by using an Azure landing zone. Learn more about  Azure landing zone accelerators for the following industries: Energy, Finance, and Manufacturing.
Modernize on the edge	Understand the basics of building an edge AI solution with Azure Percept. Learn the fundamentals of Azure IoT and Azure AI services, plus how the components of Azure Percept work together to create edge AI solutions.
	Explore some exciting new frontiers with Intro to Azure Space where you’ll learn about the current state of the space industry and the business opportunities that space enables. With Intro to Azure Orbital Ground Station, you’ll discover how this fully managed end-to-end service enables satellite operators to communicate data.
Migrate and modernize cloud-native infrastructure	The Azure Red Hat OpenShift landing zone accelerator is a collection of design guidance and implementation references to accelerate deployment of Azure Red Hat OpenShift clusters in your landing zone.
	Discover how to manage Linux machines and systems using Azure Arc, SSH, and Ansible.
	This article shows you how to install and configure BlobFuse2, mount an Azure blob container, and access data in the container.
Learn how to optimize your cloud investment for success
Control enterprise storage costs	Save money on storage costs for blob data with Azure Storage reserved capacity.
	Learn more about the pros, cons, and cost of archiving data.
	Learn how to analyze the performance indicators for Azure Blob Storage.
	Better optimize the tradeoffs between cost and performance by understanding how your blobs and containers are stored.
Explore learning modules for reinvesting to accelerate growth
New Azure Backup features for enterprises	Azure Backup center provides a single unified management experience across your enterprise.
	Immutable vault can help you protect your backup data by blocking any operations that could lead to loss of recovery points.
	Soft delete for Azure Backup enables you to recover your backup data even after it's deleted.
	Learn how to restore Azure VM data from the recovery points stored in Azure Backup Recovery Services vaults.
	Multi-user authorization (MUA) for Azure Backup allows you to add an additional layer of protection to critical operations.
Reinvest in your enterprise network	Need to achieve greater resilience across workloads? The Network Watcher: Topology tool (in preview) creates visibility of the entire network, which can be used to find opportunities to increase network performance & resiliency.
	Find out how Azure Firewall protects Azure Virtual Network resources, including the Azure Firewall features, rules, deployment options, and administration with Azure Firewall Manager.
	With this Intro to Azure Virtual WAN course, learn about constructing a wide area network using software-defined Azure Virtual WAN networking services.
Reinvest in storage security	Learn how to use client-side encryption to encrypt and decrypt blobs using a key stored with Azure Key Vault.
	Discover Azure’s capability to configure cross-tenant customer-managed keys for a new storage account.
	Build a solution where you encrypt managed disks with customer-managed keys using Azure Key Vaults stored in a different Azure Active Directory tenant.
	Enable and configure Azure Active Directory for authenticating hybrid user identities.

Learn Live with subject matter experts and a great community 

Looking for more personal interaction? Earn badges, prepare for certifications, and Learn Live with a great community.

Learn Live: Automate your Azure deployments by using Bicep and GitHub Actions (started Nov. 30, 2022, running through Feb. 8, 2023)

Gain all the benefits of infrastructure as code by using an automated workflow to deploy your Bicep templates and integrate other deployment activities with your workflows. You'll build workflows using GitHub Actions.

Azure Core IaaS Study Hall (started Dec. 1, 2022, running through May 18, 2023)

Walk through how to build infrastructure solutions with Azure IaaS services and products. Start maximizing the value of your IT investments by learning about highly secure, available, and scalable cloud services.

Keep your momentum going with a certification renewal

You’ve put in many long hours of work to earn your Microsoft Certifications, demonstrating your ability to keep pace with today’s technology and succeed in the digital world. Unless you renew them, however, your Microsoft role-based and specialty certifications expire annually. The convenient Microsoft Certification renewal process ensures that you’re current on the latest technology.

Renewing your certification is free, but there is a six-month eligibility window you must target before your certification expires. Assessments are short and open-book, and you can take them as many times as you want before your certification expires. Learn more about the certification renewal process here.

Explore training resources from our events

Visit the official Collections on Microsoft Learnfrom this past quarter’s Azure events:

• Microsoft Ignite Azure Official Learn Collections (Oct. 12-14): Discover learning modules and community content for Ignite sessions to help you continue your learning after the session or spend some time getting familiar with the topics before watching the session.
• Microsoft VMware Explore Cloud Skills Challenge & Resources (Aug. 29-Sep. 9 & Nov. 7-10): Stay up to date on cutting-edge technology by benchmarking your progress against friends and coworkers and increasing your understanding with easy-to-read instruction.
• SC22 High Performance Computing (Nov. 13-17): Explore learning resources, channels, customer stories, and other content to bolster your know-how in this high-demand field.
• PASS Data Community Summit 2022 (Nov. 15-18): Gain new skills and get world-class training you need to take the next step in your data career.
• Windows Server Summit (Dec. 6): Learn how to improve security, manage infrastructure efficiently, and maximize your current IT investments.

Coming soon

• Azure Open-Source Day: Feb. 23, 2023
• SQL Bits: March 14-18, 2023
• Azure technical skilling workshops (in person): February-March 2023

Explore and grow with Microsoft Learn Collections

With hand-picked documentation, learning modules, and community content, Official Microsoft Learn Collections are designed to help you explore and learn.

• Infrastructure Collections on Microsoft Learn
• Data and AI Collections on Microsoft Learn

You’re an Azure all-star, spread the word!

It takes dedication to earn a new Azure skill or certification. After you’ve passed a certification exam or completed your training and are ready to put your new skills to work, be sure to celebrate your Azure skills with your network.

If you're ready to utilize our learning resources, check out our Microsoft Learn page. There you can find the courses mentioned above and much more, and you can get access to additional resources, sign up for help, and dive into the world of Microsoft Learn. We're excited to see you there!