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What work does AZ-104 represent?
Microsoft’s Azure Administrator role profile describes implementing, managing, and monitoring an organization’s Azure environment, including virtual networks, storage, compute, identity, security, and governance. Its practical center of gravity is keeping deployed services configured correctly, observable, governed, and supportable.
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That operational emphasis appears in the current exam outline, whose skills are measured as of April 17, 2026:
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|---|---|
| Manage Azure identities and governance | 20–25% |
| Implement and manage storage | 15–20% |
| Deploy and manage Azure compute resources | 20–25% |
| Implement and manage virtual networking | 15–20% |
| Monitor and maintain Azure resources | 10–15% |
In workplace terms, examples of outputs could include configured identity and role assignments, governance settings, provisioned or updated resources, monitoring and maintenance actions, and operational documentation. These are practical examples inferred from the exam scope, not a universal Microsoft-prescribed set of artifacts.
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Microsoft’s candidate profile expects familiarity with operating systems, networking, servers, virtualization, PowerShell, Azure CLI, the Azure portal, ARM templates or Bicep, and Microsoft Entra ID. These are stated knowledge and experience areas; they do not mean every administrator uses every tool every day.
What work does AZ-305 represent?
Microsoft describes an Azure solutions architect as advising stakeholders and translating business requirements into Azure designs aligned with the Azure Well-Architected Framework and Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure. The role requires considering how choices in networking, virtualization, identity, security, continuity, disaster recovery, data platforms, and governance affect the solution as a whole.
The current AZ-305 exam outline, also measured as of April 17, 2026, is organized around design:
| AZ-305 skill area | Exam weight |
|---|---|
| Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions | 25–30% |
| Design data storage solutions | 20–25% |
| Design business continuity solutions | 15–20% |
| Design infrastructure solutions | 30–35% |
Illustrative outputs include architecture options and recommendations, choices about identity, network, compute, and storage patterns, resilience and disaster-recovery designs, governance and monitoring recommendations, and the rationale connecting decisions to stakeholder requirements. Microsoft’s reviewed materials do not prescribe one standard architecture-document template.
The candidate profile expects advanced IT-operations knowledge and experience in Azure administration, Azure development, and DevOps processes. Architecture therefore does not mean working without implementation awareness: Microsoft notes that architects implement solutions in partnership with other roles.
How do the administrator and architect mindsets differ?
A useful way to distinguish the exam emphasis is to ask what question leads the work:
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- AZ-104: How should this Azure environment be configured, operated, and monitored?
- AZ-305: What Azure design best meets these business and technical requirements?
That difference shapes the time horizon and decision scope. AZ-104 includes deploying resources and managing them over time. AZ-305 emphasizes selecting and designing solution approaches, weighing trade-offs across technical domains, and advising stakeholders. It does not mean administrators never plan or architects never deal with operations.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Neither role is necessarily a standalone silo. Microsoft says administrators commonly work within a broader cloud-infrastructure team and coordinate with networking, security, database, application-development, and DevOps colleagues. Architects partner with administrators, developers, security engineers, and data engineers.
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Which certification path fits your current work?
AZ-104 may fit better if
- You configure, deploy, support, or monitor Azure services.
- You want an exam scope focused on identity and governance, storage, compute, networking, and resource maintenance.
- You work with operational tools such as the Azure portal, PowerShell, Azure CLI, or infrastructure templates.
AZ-305 may fit better if
- You already have broad operations knowledge and want to take on cross-domain solution-design decisions.
- Your work involves clarifying stakeholder requirements and recommending infrastructure, data, identity, governance, or continuity approaches.
- You need to explain how design decisions fit together, rather than focusing primarily on configuring one deployed resource.
This is career-fit guidance based on Microsoft’s role profiles, not a prediction of employment outcomes. In many organizations, administrators contribute implementation insight to architecture decisions, while architects remain involved in implementation with delivery teams.
What is the certification relationship between AZ-104 and AZ-305?
AZ-104 is associated with Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate, which Microsoft classifies as an intermediate Azure administrator credential. AZ-305 is the exam required for Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, but AZ-305 alone does not fulfill the credential requirement: Microsoft also requires Azure Administrator Associate certification.
Microsoft lists a passing score of 700 for both exams. Its AZ-104 exam page lists a duration of 100 minutes. The AZ-305 exam page lists a price of $165 USD, with the price based on the country or region where the exam is proctored. Check the live exam pages for current language, scheduling, delivery, duration, and regional pricing details, which can change. Microsoft says role-based certifications expire annually and can be renewed through a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn; confirm current renewal rules on the credential pages.
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How should you prepare for either exam?
Start with the live Microsoft study guide for your exam and use its skill outline to identify areas where you need practice. Microsoft recommends training and hands-on experience and provides self-study resources, instructor-led training, documentation, practice assessments, exam readiness videos, and an exam sandbox. The guides list skills measured as of April 17, 2026, and their page metadata reports updates on March 19, 2026; review the live guide before scheduling or relying on older study material.
For AZ-104, connect study to operational tasks: configuring and managing the services named in the outline, then monitoring and maintaining them. For AZ-305, practice reasoning from requirements to a design, including how choices across identity, governance, data, continuity, and infrastructure affect one another. The exam outlines establish certification scope; they do not define standardized job titles, organizational charts, or a fixed division of duties across every employer.
Quick Recap
Official Microsoft references
- AZ-104 study guide and skills measured
- AZ-305 study guide and skills measured
- Azure Administrator Associate and AZ-104 exam page
- AZ-305 exam page
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