5 Skills You Need to Become an Azure Expert

To become skilled in Azure, you need more than just basic cloud knowledge. You should know how to use Azure's key services, secure the environment, automate processes, manage performance, and support modern DevOps workflows.

Here’s what to focus on:

1. Understanding Core Azure Services

You should know how to deploy and manage:

• Azure Virtual Machines (VMs): Set up Linux or Windows servers, assign static IPs, attach managed disks, and configure NSGs.

• Azure Blob Storage: Store large unstructured data like images, logs, or backups. Learn how to use lifecycle policies to save costs.

• Azure App Service: Deploy web apps using .NET, Node.js, Python, or Java. Enable staging slots and auto-scaling.

• Azure Functions: Create serverless apps triggered by HTTP requests, timers, or queue messages. Integrate with Event Grid for automation.

• Virtual Networks (VNETs): Set up subnets, route tables, and VPN gateways to control traffic and connect services securely.

2. Managing Identity and Access

Get hands-on with Azure Active Directory (AAD). Key areas include:

• User and group management: Assign licenses, manage access, and organize users through dynamic groups.

• RBAC: Apply fine-grained control using built-in roles (e.g., Contributor, Reader) or create custom roles using JSON definitions.

• Conditional Access: Block or allow access based on location, device compliance, or sign-in risk.

• Privileged Identity Management (PIM): Manage just-in-time access for sensitive roles, reducing long-term admin rights.

Best practice: Always enable MFA and use role-based assignments instead of individual permissions.

3. Scripting and Automation

You should know how to automate infrastructure and repetitive tasks:

• Azure CLI & PowerShell: Automate deployments, scale resources, and manage configurations. Example: az vm create or Set-AzVMExtension.

• ARM templates / Bicep: Define your infrastructure as code. Bicep is simpler and more readable than JSON-based ARM templates.

• Automation Accounts & Runbooks: Schedule tasks like cleanup scripts or resource tagging.

• Azure DevTest Labs: Automate the creation of test environments with reusable templates and cost controls.

Recommended tool: Use Visual Studio Code with the Azure CLI and Bicep extensions for easier script writing and validation.

4. Monitoring and Cost Optimization

Monitor health, set alerts, and keep costs under control:

• Azure Monitor: Collect metrics (CPU, memory, disk I/O) and logs. Create dashboards using Workbooks.

• Log Analytics (Kusto Query Language): Write queries like AzureDiagnostics | where ResourceType == "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines" to troubleshoot issues.

• Azure Advisor: Get personalized recommendations to improve performance and reduce spend.

• Cost Management + Budgets: Set alerts on spending, analyze cost by resource group, tag high-cost services, and export usage reports to Power BI.

Pro tip: Use Azure Reservations and Spot VMs for predictable workloads to reduce compute costs.

5. Working with DevOps Tools

Most Azure projects need DevOps skills:

• Azure DevOps Services: Build pipelines using YAML or the visual editor. Connect repos, manage work items, and deploy using release pipelines.

• GitHub Actions: Build workflows to deploy code to Azure App Service, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), or Functions directly from GitHub.

• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Combine CI/CD with Bicep or Terraform to provision infrastructure during deployments.

• Key Vault Integration: Secure secrets and use them in pipelines or app configurations without exposing them in code.

Real example: Set up a GitHub Actions pipeline that builds a Node.js app and deploys it to Azure App Service on push to main.

Final Thoughts

To be seen as an Azure expert, you need more than certification. You need to build, secure, automate, monitor, and deploy cloud solutions that actually work in production. Focus on real scenarios, practice with live environments, and stay current through Microsoft Learn, GitHub repos, and Azure updates.

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