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Data has revolutionized the way industries work. Every organization across the globe is looking for more flexible, efficient, and better storage solutions. Companies are looking for faster methods to collect necessary data and eventually process it to cater well to the needs of their customers.
Microsoft Azure offers all of the above. The software giant has the second largest market share as a premier cloud service provider, controlling 24% of the overall cloud space. Microsoft has also claimed that most Fortune 500 companies use Azure in their organizations. Organizations need skilled professionals to work on Microsoft Azure, with Azure administrators tasked to help implement and manage Azure solutions within the setup. They are in high demand because of their exceptional skills.
Want to start a career as an Azure administrator? Curious about what being an Azure administrator entails? Worried about where to begin your journey? Don’t worry, for this blog covers all of the above and more.
According to Microsoft, an Azure administrator “implements, monitors, and maintains Microsoft Azure solutions. These include major services related to compute, storage, network, and security. Azure administrators are not only familiar with Azure but they are also skilled in cloud infrastructure for public clouds, such as Google Cloud and AWS.
Azure administrators manage Azure solutions and oversee compute, storage, network, and security in the cloud environment. They work as a part of a team and know about implementing cloud infrastructure. They are also responsible for working with other Azure and IT professionals to maintain Azure networking, application development, DevOps solutions, and security.
Azure administrators are in charge of the following:
An Azure administrator job description typically includes these responsibilities. Let us discuss some of them in detail.
The primary responsibility of Azure administrators is managing and configuring virtual machines. They have to deploy virtual machines into virtual networks and create backups to provide disaster recovery, among other responsibilities.
Azure administrators are also responsible for protecting data against threats and unauthorized access. They have to ensure that data is backed up at regular intervals.
Azure administrators have to manage public and private IP addresses. Their responsibilities also include deploying and configuring virtual networks.
Anyone looking for a job as an Azure administrator needs to have the following skill to do their job successfully.
Azure administrators work in a team, where their individual role requires them to have soft skills that help them collaborate with other professionals. These skills are as follows:
Apart from these, an Azure administrator must have role-specific skills. Some of them are:
Given below are some of them in detail:
A successful Azure administrator is well-versed in establishing and implementing virtual networks. They have the necessary skills for routing path orchestration even in a hybrid cloud. They must also know how to use different Azure solutions in virtual machines. They should be able to manage virtual machines’ public and private IP addresses.
Azure administrators must know how to use log analytics to write Azure monitor log queries. They must also have the necessary knowledge to understand data schema, filter and group results, and create charts. They should also know the process of saving, loading, exporting, and sharing queries.
Azure administrators are also responsible for running virtual machines on cloud, only possible with full working knowledge of the two popular Hypervisor platforms. The platforms are Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware vSphere. Responsibilities related to virtual machines also include deploying them into virtual networks, configuring them to have the optimum performance, and backing them up. They should have the skills to optimize virtual machines for optimum cost and security. They should also provide a recovery plan when a virtual machine fails.
One of the major responsibilities of an Azure administrator is to manage storage. Azure has a large amount of storage for storing application data, user data and database files. Azure administrators must have the expertise to configure long-term archival storage. They should also maintain corporate compliance. Other skills include knowing how to secure data from unauthorized access and backup it up in case of disaster. The data should be backed up in a way that enables easy and quick restoration after a disaster.
Every organization that deals with data needs to keep security at its forefront. As an Azure administrator, you must be skilled in securing the organization’s data and Azure solutions. You should know about encrypting data at all times, whether during transit, at rest, or in use. You should also be able to secure Azure Active Directory from any cyberattack. You must have the skills to safeguard Azure resources against any vulnerability and threats.
According to AmbitionBox, Azure administrators in India earn an average annual salary of INR 7.2 lakhs. The pay ranges between INR 3.5 lakhs to INR 16.2 lakhs. Companies, including TCS, Wipro, Accenture, and Mindtree, offer the highest salaries to Azure administrators. According to ZipRecruiter, Azure administrators in the US earn $103,979 a year.
With Microsoft Azure’s bright future prospects, the future of Azure professionals is also bright. As an Azure administrator, you have the chance to develop your skills in Azure and work in Fortune 500 companies. You can also widen your knowledge and skills by doing various certifications offered by Microsoft.
You can become an Azure administrator by following these steps:
Step 1: Get your Bachelor’s in computer science, information technology, software engineering, or a related course. After completing your bachelor’s, you can also enroll in a master’s program in related fields.
Step 2: Get some experience working with Azure, ideally six months.
Step 3: Develop skills in cloud, PowerShell, command-line interface, and Microsoft Azure.
Step 4: Learn Azure administrator roles and responsibilities.
Step 5: Get Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) certification.
Step 6: Make a resume and start looking for a job.
Certifications are a good way of improving your job and salary prospects, upgrading your knowledge, and staying relevant in the industry. The primary and most crucial certification for Azure administrators is Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) certification. It is one of the highest-paying certifications in Microsoft Azure.
The certification validates the holder’s skills in cloud storage, security, compute, networking, and governance. It also proves their skills in using PowerShell, command-line interface, and Azure portal.
ALSO Read: Top 10 Most In-Demand Highest Paying Microsoft Certifications in 2022
Let us discuss the details of this certification.
According to Microsoft, the candidates for this certification must have the necessary expertise in implementing, managing, and monitoring the Azure environment for an organization. They must be able to work in virtual networks, compute, storage, governance, and security. They should be well-versed in operating systems, virtualizations, and servers. The cost of the exam in India is INR 4800. In the US, it is 165 USD.
Candidates must also be experienced in the following:
The certification is available in the following languages:
English, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Japanese, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Arabic (Saudi Arabia), Chinese (Traditional), Italian and Indonesian (Indonesia)
Microsoft has divided the learning path for this certification into five parts. The details of these parts are as follows:
Manage Identities and Governance in Azure - 15-20%
Manage Azure Active Directory objects (tasks include creating users, groups, and administrative units, managing device settings, and performing bulk updates)
Manage role-based access (tasks include creating custom roles and providing role-based access)
Manage subscriptions and governance (tasks include configuring Azure policies and resource locks, managing costs, and applying tags on different resources)
Implement and Manage Storage in Azure - 15-20%
Secure storage (includes managing access key, configuring access to Azure files, etc.)
Manage storage (includes importing and exporting from Azure jobs, copying data through AZcopy, etc.)
Configure Azure files and Blob Storage (includes configuring storage tiers, creating file share, etc.)
Deploy and Manage Azure Compute Resources - 20-25%
Automating virtual machines deployment through ARM templates (includes tasks like deploying VM extensions and configuring a VHD template)
Configuring virtual machines (includes tasks like managing VM sizes, redeploying VMs, and adding data disks)
Creating and configuring containers (includes tasks such as upgrading AKS clusters, configuring scaling for AKS, etc.)
Creating and configuring Azure app services (includes tasks such as configuring deployment and networking settings and creating and securing an App Service)
Configure and Manage Azure Virtual Networks - 25-30%
Implement and manage virtual networking (includes configuring endpoints on subnets and implementing subnets)
Secure access to virtual networks (includes creating security rules, implementing Azure Firewall and Bastion, etc.)
Configure load balancing (includes troubleshooting load balancing, configuring the public load balancer, etc.)
Monitor and troubleshoot virtual networking (includes monitoring on-premises connectivity, troubleshooting external networking and virtual network connectivity, and using Azure Network Watcher)
Integrate on-premise networks with Azure virtual networks (includes configuring Azure Virtual WAN, configuring VPN Gateway, etc.)
Monitor and Backup Azure Resources - 10-15%
Monitor resources by using Azure monitor (includes querying and analyzing logs, setting up alerts, and interpreting metrics)
Implement backup and recovery (includes creating recovery services and backup vaults, configuring backup policies, etc.)
With this certification, you can go on to apply for roles such as Azure Administrator, Database Administrator, and Systems Administrator.
There are other certifications that Azure administrators can do. Some of them are as follows.
This AZ-900 certification is suitable for people with no knowledge and experience working with Azure or the cloud. If you want to learn the fundamentals of Azure clearly before going for AZ-104, this certification will teach you that. You will learn different cloud concepts, cloud scalability, fault tolerance in cloud computing, Azure architecture, and services, among other things.
This certification is also one of the highest-paying certifications. You can also apply for entry-level positions with it.
This DP-900 certification is useful for people who want to work with data in the cloud. It is ideal for database administrators and engineers. It covers skills specific to data in Azure, such as analytics workloads, modern data warehousing, data visualization in Power BI, and data processing. There are no prerequisites for this exam.
This AI-900 certification validates your knowledge of using artificial intelligence and machine learning in Azure. It covers skills, including Azure workloads related to NLP, conversational AI, etc. It is beneficial for people willing to learn the basics of AI and ML and work in the AI industry.
The job market for Azure administrators is ripe, with many organizations looking to hire Azure professionals. With the constant advancements in the cloud industry, they are all set to be a part of a growing and successful market. In this blog, we have discussed all the things one should know before becoming an Azure administrator. Getting AZ-104 certification can bring new opportunities for anyone looking to make their mark in the field. It can help you develop skills, get the necessary expertise, and upgrade your knowledge.
Michael Warne is a tech blogger and IT Certification Trainer at Koenig Solutions. She has an experience of 5 years in the industry, and has worked for top-notch IT companies. She is an IT career consultant for students who pursue various types of IT certifications.
