By David Rosenthal
Microsoft has updated and expanded its line of training and certification courses to cover some of the most important and high-level areas in IT today.
Individuals in tech-focused roles, students, and business professionals that operate in the digital economy can all benefit from educational resources that grow their knowledge base of key tech topics, accelerate their career advancement, and keep them on the very cutting edge of the ever-evolving trends in technology that are constantly reshaping the way business is done.
Whether as the first step towards building a career in technology, a method of augmenting existing skill sets, or a necessary certification before pursuing a new role or specialty, successfully completing Microsoft Certified: Fundamentals courses highlights to colleagues and employers (existing or prospective) that enrollees are well-versed in and have mastered a variety of crucial IT topics, including:
- Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
- Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals
- Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals
- Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals
- Power Platform Fundamentals
- Microsoft 365 Fundamentals
- Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (CRM or ERP)
The Benefit of Microsoft Certifications
Choosing to undergo training with Microsoft and earning a industry-respected certification from an industry leader in IT improves enrollees marketability to future employers, provides a wide but in depth overview of Microsoft’s core technology assets, and verifies competency regarding all the tools that modern students, employees, and business leaders rely on to compete in the marketplace.
- Technical professionals gain the skills and confidence to take on bigger projects and seek more consequential roles within their company.
- Students develop a foundation that will enable them to compete for high quality jobs and thrive in them when the time comes.
- Business leaders learn the ins and outs of the tech stack that powers their organization and how to be more effective when communicating and collaborating with IT pros, web and software developers, and other technical experts.
Practical Training for Technology Professionals and Students
Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
Get a firm grasp on the basics of Microsoft Azure, the cloud that 95% of the Fortune 500 operates, including core cloud computing concepts, the full range of Azure services, and the differences between public, private, and hybrid clouds.
The certification also addresses broader cloud frameworks, such as workload management, security, privacy protections, pricing models, and support frameworks, and it covers the range of possible service models enabled by Azure:
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
- Platform as a Service (PaaS)
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) workloads, once the purview of only massive enterprises and a small circle of futurists, are now incredibly common and deployed in a wide variety of applications. Microsoft’s training explains how Azure services make AI and ML easier to spin up than ever before. It also reinforces other Azure role-based certifications, including:
- Azure Data Scientist Associate
- Azure AI Engineer Associate
- Azure Developer Associate
Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals
Increasingly, data determines outcomes in the marketplace. The skills to find, collect, analyze, and harness data sources to extract the actionable insights that inform smarter decision making are at an all-time premium as companies seek out candidates (internally and externally) that can elevate their data practices and competencies.
Certification in Azure Data Fundamentals confirms that an individual is ready to help them achieve those objectives, by training and testing on the major topics in cloud-based data science and management, including:
- Relational data
- Non-relational data
- Big data
- Analytics
Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals also strengthens existing knowledge in other Azure role-based certifications, such as:
- Azure Database Administrator Associate
- Azure Data Engineer Associate
- Data Analyst Associate
- Azure Developer Associate
Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals
With ransomware attacks rising globally, along with the risks of data breaches and mishandling sensitive organizational and personal data, the costs of failing to secure critical digital resources have become too large for businesses of any size to ignore.
The tools to protect information and lock down networks and systems so that only authorized users gain access and only for the time and purpose required for their role are growing in complexity. Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals certification demonstrates knowledge of Microsoft’s complete Security, compliance, and identity (SCI) solutions and how they provide holistic, end-to-end cybersecurity safeguards for growing organizations.
Power Platform Fundamentals
Microsoft Power Platform, first released in 2018, has become a leading business intelligence, app development, and app connectivity solution. The platform is made up of Power BI (data visualization), Power Apps (low-code, custom business app development), Power Automate (business workflow automation), and Power Virtual Agents (chatbot development).
With integrations in GitHub and Teams, it leverages Microsoft’s low-code Power Fx programming language to make formerly complex analytics and development tasks available to a much broader audience. Power Platform Fundamentals teaches enrollees how to:
- Create simple Power Apps
- Connect data with Microsoft Dataverse
- Build a Power BI Dashboard
- Automate a process with Power Automate
- Build a chatbot with Power Virtual Agents
Microsoft 365 Fundamentals
Gain a better understanding of the complete family of Microsoft 365 apps, including productivity suite Office, collaboration platform Teams, and Viva, Microsoft’s employee engagement portal. The program also explains the value of implementing Microsoft 365 services so that organizations can maximize their investment in their digital tools.
Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (CRM or ERP)
Microsoft has software platforms designed especially to address internal business needs like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Microsoft Dynamics is a core component of Microsoft’s business solutions and integrates with their other critical business services, including SharePoint, Yammer, Office 365, Azure, and Outlook.
Dynamics 365 Fundamentals for CRM certifies that enrolled are experts in the customer engagement apps built into Dynamics, covering topics like:
- Marketing Outreach
- Sales Automation
- Operational Workflow Optimization
- Support Lifecycles
Dynamics 365 Fundamentals for ERP dives into the software tools that help businesses optimize their finance and operations functions to deliver greater levels of efficiency across their enterprise. Certification demonstrates proficiency in analyzing and improving business finance and operations.
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