AZ-400-Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions

Audience: DevOps engineers, Site Reliability Engineers (SREs), Infrastructure & Cloud Engineers, Automation Architects
Pre-req Recommendation: AZ-104 (Azure Administrator) or AZ-204 (Developer) certification-level knowledge

📌 Exam Snapshot

📚 Skills Measured (as of 2024–2025 outline)

🧩 1. Configure Processes and Communications (10–15%)

• Design and implement Agile tools (Azure Boards, GitHub Projects)

• Configure collaboration tools (Teams, Wikis)

• Manage work items, backlogs, and boards

🔄 2. Design and Implement Source Control (15–20%)

• Integrate source control with Azure Repos, GitHub

• Implement Git branching strategies (GitFlow, trunk-based)

• Design repository structure and permissions

🚀 3. Design and Implement Build and Release Pipelines (30–35%)

• Build automation using YAML pipelines

• Implement CI/CD (multi-stage pipelines, templates)

• Manage secrets with Key Vault

• Configure release gates, approval workflows, and environments

• Integrate tests, quality gates, and deployment strategies

🔐 4. Develop a Security and Compliance Plan (10–15%)

• Implement secure DevOps with policies and pipelines

• Integrate static/dynamic code analysis

• Manage access to secrets and credentials

📊 5. Implement Instrumentation and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) Strategy (10–15%)

• Monitor applications with Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, App Insights

• Implement alerting and SLOs

• Use chaos engineering for reliability

📦 6. Implement Dependency Management (5–10%)

• Manage dependencies using Artifacts, NuGet, npm, Maven

• Version control and retention strategies

• Manage package security and licenses

🗺️ 6-Week Study Roadmap

📘 Recommended Learning Resources

🔹 Microsoft Learn (FREE!)

• AZ-400 Learning Path

• DevOps with GitHub

• Practice Labs for YAML pipelines and GitHub Actions

🔹 Books

• Exam Ref AZ-400 Microsoft Azure DevOps Engineer Expert (latest edition)

• The DevOps Handbook by Gene Kim (supplemental reading)

🔹 Hands-on Tools to Practice

• Azure DevOps Services: Use free tier for repos, pipelines, artifacts

• GitHub Actions: Free with most GitHub accounts

• Terraform or Bicep: For infrastructure as code

• Azure CLI / PowerShell: Required for scripting parts

📝 Sample Questions (Style)

Q1: Which deployment strategy ensures zero downtime and allows fast rollback by switching traffic between two environments?
✅ Answer: Blue-Green

Q2: What tool should you use to store secrets securely for use in CI/CD pipelines?
✅ Answer: Azure Key Vault

Q3: How do you enforce code quality standards in Azure Pipelines?
✅ Answer: Add build policies and quality gates using SonarQube, ESLint, etc.

🧩 Practice Exercises to Master

• Create a multi-stage YAML pipeline with separate environments.

• Implement a GitFlow branching strategy in Azure Repos.

• Configure approval gates before production deployment.

• Set up Application Insights + Alerts in a sample web app.

• Manage dependencies using Azure Artifacts.

🎯 Tips for Exam Success

• 🛠 Do the labs: Microsoft Learn modules come with labs—don’t skip them.

• 🔄 YAML mastery is key: understand templating, expressions, variables.

• 🎯 Know the DevOps lifecycle end-to-end: From planning to monitoring.

• 📚 Review regularly: Use flashcards or spaced repetition tools.

• 🧪 Practice real deployments: Simulate a real CI/CD project with code quality gates, staged approvals, and monitoring.

🏆 After the Exam

Successfully passing AZ-400 earns you:

✅ Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert
💼 Valuable recognition for roles like DevOps Engineer, SRE, Platform Engineer
📈 Demonstrated ability to lead DevOps transformation initiatives