Microsoft Azure Career Bootcamp: Fundamentals to Administrator (AZ-900 and AZ-104)

Program Overview

The Microsoft Azure Career Bootcamp: Fundamentals to Administrator is a comprehensive, hands-on program designed to take participants from foundational cloud knowledge through the practical skills needed to administer Microsoft Azure environments.

The bootcamp combines concepts and skills aligned with Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) and Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104) into one progressive learning experience. Students build an understanding of cloud and Azure concepts before moving into hands-on administration of identities, storage, compute, networking, governance, monitoring, backup, and other Azure resources.

The program is designed both for individuals pursuing careers in cloud and IT and for existing IT professionals who need practical Azure skills as their organizations adopt or expand Microsoft cloud technologies.

What You'll Learn

1. Cloud Computing & Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

Build the foundation needed to understand how modern organizations use cloud technology.

• Cloud computing concepts and terminology
• Benefits of cloud computing
• Public, private, and hybrid cloud environments
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
• Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• Software as a Service (SaaS)
• Shared responsibility in the cloud
• Core Microsoft Azure services and solutions

Career connection: Establishes foundational cloud knowledge applicable to entry-level IT, help desk, technical support, cloud support, and infrastructure roles.

2. Azure Architecture & Resource Management

Learn how Azure environments are structured and how administrators create and organize cloud resources.

• Azure regions and availability zones
• Subscriptions and management groups
• Resource groups and Azure resources
• Azure Resource Manager
• Azure portal and Cloud Shell
• Azure CLI and PowerShell
• ARM templates and Bicep
• Resource tags and locks

Corporate IT application: Provides existing IT professionals with the skills to navigate and manage their organization's Azure environment and understand how cloud resources are organized and controlled.

3. Identity, Access & Governance

Learn how organizations control who can access Azure and what users are permitted to do.

• Microsoft Entra ID
• Managing users and groups
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
• Azure roles and permissions
• Azure Policy
• Subscription and resource governance
• Cost Management and budgets
• Security and compliance concepts

Career connection: Identity and access management skills are increasingly important across cloud administrator, systems administrator, security, infrastructure, and support roles.

4. Azure Storage

Configure and manage cloud-based storage solutions.

• Azure storage accounts
• Blob Storage
• Azure Files
• Storage redundancy and replication
• Storage access and security
• Shared Access Signatures
• Storage lifecycle management
• Managing and transferring Azure data

Corporate IT application: Helps IT professionals understand how Azure can be used to securely store, protect, share, and manage organizational data.

5. Azure Compute

Learn to deploy and administer workloads running within Azure.

• Azure Virtual Machines
• VM sizing and configuration
• Availability and scalability
• Virtual Machine Scale Sets
• Azure App Service
• Containers
• Azure Container Instances and Container Apps
• Managing Azure compute resources

Career connection: Develops practical infrastructure skills applicable to cloud administrator, systems administrator, cloud support, infrastructure, and cloud engineering career paths.

6. Azure Networking

Develop the networking skills required to connect, secure, and troubleshoot Azure resources.

• Virtual Networks and subnets
• Public and private IP addressing
• Network Security Groups
• Azure DNS
• VNet peering
• Azure Bastion
• Private endpoints
• Azure load balancing
• Application Gateway
• Network Watcher
• Network connectivity and troubleshooting

Corporate IT application: Particularly valuable for network, systems, and infrastructure professionals whose responsibilities are expanding from traditional on-premises environments into hybrid and cloud environments.

7. Monitoring, Backup & Recovery

Learn how administrators maintain the health, availability, and recoverability of Azure environments.

• Azure Monitor
• Metrics and logs
• Log Analytics
• Azure Monitor alerts
• Azure Service Health
• Azure Advisor
• Azure Backup
• Recovery Services vaults
• Azure Site Recovery
• Monitoring and maintaining Azure resources

Career connection: Builds the operational skills expected of professionals responsible for keeping cloud infrastructure available, secure, monitored, and recoverable.

Hands-On Azure Experience

A major component of the bootcamp is learning by doing.

Students won't simply learn Azure terminology or watch an instructor demonstrate the technology. Throughout the program, participants will work directly with Azure through guided hands-on labs, instructor demonstrations, exercises, and real-world administrative scenarios.

Participants will gain practical experience with tasks such as creating Azure resources, deploying virtual machines, configuring storage, managing users and permissions, building virtual networks, implementing security and governance controls, and monitoring Azure resources.

The objective is to develop both certification knowledge and practical Azure skills that can be applied in the workplace.

Where Can These Skills Take You?

For someone entering or advancing within IT, the bootcamp builds skills relevant to career paths such as:

Cloud Support Specialist • Azure Administrator • Systems Administrator • Cloud Administrator • IT Support Specialist • Infrastructure Specialist • Junior Cloud Engineer • Microsoft Cloud Support

For professionals already working in corporate IT, this bootcamp would help:

• Support an organization's transition from on-premises infrastructure to cloud or hybrid environments
• Administer Azure resources instead of relying solely on traditional server infrastructure
• Manage cloud identities, users, roles, and permissions
• Deploy and maintain virtual machines and cloud workloads
• Configure Azure networking and connectivity
• Manage cloud storage and data access
• Apply governance and security controls
• Monitor, troubleshoot, back up, and recover Azure resources
• Communicate more effectively with cloud architects, security teams, developers, and Microsoft partners

Bootcamp Format

12 Evening Sessions | 3 Hours Per Night | 36 Total Hours

The evening format is an important part of the program. Instead of trying to absorb Azure Fundamentals and Azure Administrator content during several consecutive full-day classes, students develop their skills progressively over the course of the month.

A typical evening can follow a rhythm of:

Learn the Concept → See It Demonstrated → Practice It in Azure → Review & Discuss

The format gives students time between sessions to absorb new concepts, practice what they've learned, and return with questions before progressing into more advanced Azure administration topics.

Why the 12-Night Format Works

From Azure Fundamentals to Azure Administrator

The overall progression is:

Understand the Cloud → Learn Azure → Work Hands-On in Azure → Administer Azure → Prepare for AZ-900 & AZ-104 → Apply the Skills on the Job