How to Be a Certified Azure DevOps Engineer: AZ-400 Exam Guide

Introduction

Azure DevOps is a cloud service set that enables developers and IT professionals to collaborate and deliver high-quality software faster and more reliably. Azure DevOps includes Azure Boards, Azure Repos, Azure Pipelines, Azure Test Plans, and Azure Artifacts. These services cover the entire software development lifecycle, from planning and coding to testing and deploying. 

If you want to prove your expertise in designing and implementing Azure DevOps solutions, you should consider taking the AZ-400: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions exam. This exam is part of the Microsoft Certified DevOps Engineer Expert certification requirements, which validate your ability to combine people, processes, and technologies to deliver value to your customers. 

This blog will provide you with a comprehensive guide to preparing for the AZ-400 exam, including the exam format, objectives, resources, tips, and practice questions. 

Exam Format

The AZ-400 exam consists of 40-60 multiple-choice, drag-and-drop, case study, and scenario-based questions that you must complete within 180 minutes. The passing grade is 700 on a scale of 1000. English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Arabic (Saudi Arabia), Russian, Chinese (Traditional), Italian, and Indonesian (Indonesia) are all accessible. The exam can be taken online or at a testing facility. 

Exam Objectives

The AZ-400 exam tests your knowledge and skills on the following objectives: 

• Develop an instrumentation strategy (5-10%)
• Design and implement logging and telemetry 
• Integrate logging and telemetry with monitoring tools.
• Analyze and troubleshoot logging and telemetry data 
• Create a Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) strategy (5–10% of the total). 
• Develop an actionable alerting strategy.
• Design and implement a health check
• Design and implement a failure prediction strategy
• Calculate and publish service-level indicators and objectives 
•  Develop a plan for compliance and security (10–15%). 
• Design an authentication and authorization strategy.
• Implement and manage secure communication channels.
• Implement secure data storage and processing.
• Implement compliance and vulnerability scanning.
• Implement dependency scanning and management. 
• Manage source control (10-15%) 
• Design and implement a branching strategy
• Configure repositories
• Implement code flow
• Integrate external source control.
• Implement pre-commit hooks 
• Facilitate communication and collaboration (10-15%) 
• Communicate deployment and release information
• Automate communication with team members
• Implement a process for routing system feedback to development teams.
• Optimize feedback mechanisms 
• Define and implement continuous integration (20-25%) 
• Design-build automation
• Implement a code quality and security strategy.
• Implement a build strategy. 
• Implement a code review process.
• Troubleshoot and optimize build pipelines 
• Define and implement a plan for continuous delivery and release management (10-15%). 
• Design a release strategy.
• Set up a release management workflow.
• Implement an appropriate deployment pattern.
• Implement a release governance process.
• Troubleshoot and optimize release pipelines

Exam Resources

To prepare for the AZ-400 exam, you can use various resources, such as: 

• Microsoft Learn: This is a free online learning platform that provides interactive modules, videos, quizzes, and labs to help you learn Azure DevOps fundamentals and advanced topics. You can access the learning path for the AZ-400 exam https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/exams/az-400/.
• Microsoft Docs: This official documentation site for Azure DevOps provides detailed information and examples on Azure DevOps concepts and services. You can access the Azure DevOps documentation https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/resources/study-guides/az-400.
• Microsoft Q&A: This is a community forum where you can ask questions and get answers from Azure DevOps experts and peers. You can access the Azure DevOps Q&A https://www.cloudthat.com/resources/blog/study-guide-for-passing-microsoft-certification-exam-az-400-designing-and-implementing-azure-devops-engineer-expert.
• Microsoft Learn TV: This live-streaming channel features shows and events on various Azure DevOps topics and technologies. You can access the Microsoft Learn TV https://partner.microsoft.com/en-us/asset/collection/azure-devops-engineer-expert-certification-exam-az-400.
• Microsoft Ignite: This annual conference showcases the latest innovations and trends in Azure DevOps and other Microsoft products. You can access the on-demand sessions and recordings from Microsoft Ignite.
• Skylines Academy: This online training platform offers courses and practice tests for Azure DevOps certifications, including the AZ-400 exam. You can access the Skylines Academy.

Exam Tips

To ace the AZ-400 exam, you should follow these tips: 

• Review the exam objectives and skills measured carefully and ensure you understand each topic and subtopic.
• Use a combination of resources to study and reinforce your learning. For example, you can watch a video, read a document, and do a lab on the same topic. 
• Take notes and summarize the key points and concepts that you learn. You can use flashcards, mind maps, or diagrams to help you memorize and recall the information.
• Practice as much as you can with the Azure DevOps services and tools that are covered in the exam. You can use the free Azure account or the Azure free trial to access the Azure DevOps resources and features.
• Take practice tests and quizzes to assess your knowledge and identify your strengths and weaknesses. You can use the official Microsoft or third-party practice tests to simulate the exam environment and format.
• Examine your errors and criticism and learn from them. You can use Microsoft Docs or other resources to fill in the gaps and clarify any doubts or confusion.

• Plan your exam schedule and location in advance, and make sure you have a stable internet connection and a quiet and comfortable space to take the exam.
• Relax and be confident on the exam day. You can review your notes and do some warm-up exercises before the exam. You can also use the exam sandbox to familiarize yourself with the interface and features.

Practice Questions

To give you an idea of what to expect on the AZ-400 exam, here are some sample questions that are similar to the actual exam questions. 

1. You are designing a logging and telemetry strategy for an Azure DevOps project. You need to ensure that you can monitor the application’s performance, availability, and reliability. Which Azure service should you use? 

• A) Azure Application Insights 
• B) Azure Log Analytics 
• C) Azure Monitor 
• D) Azure Event Hubs 

2. You are developing a Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) strategy for an Azure DevOps project. You need to calculate the application’s service level objective (SLO). Which formula should you use? 

• A) SLO = SLI / SLA 
• B) SLO = SLA / SLI 
• C) SLO = 1 – SLI / SLA 
• D) SLO = 1 – SLA / SLI 

3. You are developing a security and compliance plan for an Azure DevOps project. You must ensure that the code quality and security are maintained throughout the development lifecycle. Which tool should you use? 

• A) Azure DevTest Labs 

• B) Azure Security Center 
• C) SonarQube 
• D) WhiteSource Bolt 

4. You are managing source control for an Azure DevOps project. You must design a branching strategy supporting multiple parallel releases and bug fixes. Which branching strategy should you use? 

• A) Feature branch 
• B) Release branch 
• C) Hotfix branch 
• D) GitFlow 

5. You are facilitating communication and collaboration for an Azure DevOps project. You need to automate the communication with team members and stakeholders when a new build is completed. Which tool should you use? 

• A) Azure Service Bus 
• B) Azure Notification Hubs 
• C) Azure Logic Apps 
• D) Azure DevOps ChatOps 

6. You define and implement a continuous integration (CI) pipeline for Azure DevOps projects. You must ensure that the code quality and security are checked before merging the code to the main branch. Which process should you implement? 

• A) Code review 
• B) Code coverage 
• C) Code analysis 
• D) Code signing 

7. You are defining and implementing a continuous delivery and release management strategy for an Azure DevOps project. You must ensure that the deployment pattern supports zero downtime and gradual exposure to users. Which deployment pattern should you use? 

• A) Blue-green deployment 
• B) Rolling deployment 
• C) Canary deployment 
• D) A/B testing deployment 

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