The Microsoft’s DP-900 exam tests your knowledge of data and databases in Microsoft Azure. The “900” level indicates that the exam is at the Fundamental level.
It looks at your theoretical understanding of what is possible using Microsoft Azure. While it does not require you to know what to do, such knowledge would support your learning of the requirements of the DP-900.
Skills tested
There are four major topics tested in the DP-900 exam which are broken down for you here:
- Describe core data concepts.
- Describe ways to represent data.
- Identify options for data storage.
- Describe common data workloads.
- Identify roles and responsibilities for data workloads.
- Identify considerations for relational data on Azure.
- Describe relational concepts.
- Describe relational Azure data services.
- Describe considerations for working with non-relational data on Azure.
- Describe capabilities of Azure storage.
- Describe capabilities and features of Azure Cosmos DB.
- Describe an analytics workload on Azure.
- Describe common elements of large-scale analytics.
- Describe consideration for real-time data analytics.
- Describe data visualization in Microsoft Power BI.
For a detailed list of the DP-900 requirements, please click here and scroll down to the “Study guide”.
The DP-900 exam and its qualification
Microsoft has not published specific details about the number of questions in the exam, but there appears to be around 35 to 60 questions to be completed in 60 to 90 minutes.
To pass the exam, you need a scaled score of 700 or more (out of 1,000). Be careful about what this means. A “scaled score” is not directly equivalent to the number of points gained but takes into account the difficulty of the question, giving harder questions more weight.
After passing the exam, you will be able to call yourself “Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals”. It is not a prerequisite for taking other Microsoft exams. However, it is beneficial to gain the knowledge in this exam as a basis for more advanced exams.
If you are an American college student, you may be able to get 3 college credits by passing the DP-900 exam.
Related exams
Related to the DP-900 exam at a more advanced level:
- DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure.
- DP-300: Administering Microsoft Azure SQL Solutions.
- DP-420: Designing and Implementing Cloud-Native Applications Using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB.
Microsoft certificates at the same level as the DP-900:
- AZ-900: Azure Fundamentals – looks at a wider range of Azure services, such as Networking, compute and storage services.
- PL-900: Power Platform Fundamentals – shows how you can use the Dataverse online database to create online canvas and model-driven apps, together with Power Automate flows and more.
Other Microsoft certifications at the Fundamental level:
- AI-900: Azure AI Fundamentals.
- MB-910: Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (CRM).
- MB-920: Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (ERP).
- MS-900: Microsoft 365 Certified Fundamentals.
- SC-900: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals.
How to learn the skills needed for the DP-900 exam
To learn the skills needed to pass the DP-900 exam, . It teaches all the DP-900 exam requirements. With 14 quizzes and 2 practise tests, you can be sure that you are prepared.
I do data… and so can you!
