Candidates for this exam should have subject matter expertise in designing and implementing
solutions that run on Microsoft Azure, including aspects like compute, network, storage, and
security. Candidates should have intermediate-level skills for administering Azure. Candidates
should understand Azure development and DevOps processes.
Responsibilities for an Azure Solution Architect include advising stakeholders and translating
business requirements into secure, scalable, and reliable cloud solutions.
An Azure Solution Architect partners with cloud administrators, cloud DBAs, and clients to
implement solutions.
A candidate for this exam should have advanced experience and knowledge of IT operations,
including networking, virtualization, identity, security, business continuity, disaster recovery, data
platform, budgeting, and governance–this role should manage how decisions in each area affect
an overall solution. In addition, this role should have expert-level skills in Azure administration
and have experience with Azure development and DevOps processes.
Design Monitoring (10-15%)
Design for cost optimization
   recommend a solution for cost management and cost reporting
   recommend solutions to minimize costs
Design a solution for logging and monitoring
   determine levels and storage locations for logs
   plan for integration with monitoring tools including Azure Monitor and Azure Sentinel
   recommend appropriate monitoring tool(s) for a solution
   choose a mechanism for event routing and escalation
   recommend a logging solution for compliance requirements
Design Identity and Security (25-30%)
Design authentication
   recommend a solution for single-sign on
   recommend a solution for authentication
   recommend a solution for Conditional Access, including multi-factor authentication
   recommend a solution for network access authentication
   recommend a solution for a hybrid identity including Azure AD Connect, Azure AD
Connect cloud sync and Azure AD Connect Health
   recommend a solution for user self-service
   recommend and implement a solution for B2B integration
Design authorization
   choose an authorization approach
   recommend a hierarchical structure that includes management groups, subscriptions and
resource groups
   recommend an access management solution including RBAC policies, access reviews,
role assignments, Privileged Identity Management (PIM), Azure AD Identity Protection,
Just In Time (JIT) access
Design governance
   recommend a strategy for tagging
   recommend a solution for using Azure Policy
   recommend a solution for using Azure Blueprints
   recommend a solution that leverages Azure Resource Graph
Design security for applications
   recommend a solution that includes Key Vault
   recommend a solution that includes Managed Identities
   recommend a solution for integrating applications into Azure AD
Design Data Storage (15-20%)
Design a solution for databases
   select an appropriate data platform based on requirements
   recommend database service tier sizing
   recommend a solution for database scalability
   recommend a solution for encrypting data at rest, data in transmission, and data in use
Design data integration
   recommend a data flow to meet business requirements
   recommend a solution for data integration, including Azure Data Factory, Azure
Databricks, Azure Data Lake, Azure Synapse Analytics
Select an appropriate storage account
   choose between storage tiers
   recommend a storage access solution
   recommend storage management tools
Design Business Continuity (10-15%)
Design a solution for backup and recovery
   recommend a recovery solution for Azure hybrid and on-premises workloads that meets
recovery objectives (RTO, RLO, RPO)
   design and Azure Site Recovery solution
   recommend a solution for recovery in different regions
   recommend a solution for geo-redundancy of workloads
   recommend a solution for Azure Backup management
   design a solution for data archiving and retention
Design for high availability
   recommend a solution for application and workload redundancy, including compute,
database, and storage
   recommend a solution for autoscaling
   identify resources that require high availability
   identify storage types for high availability
Design Infrastructure (25-30%)
Design a compute solution
   recommend a solution for compute provisioning
   determine appropriate compute technologies, including virtual machines, App Services,
Service Fabric, Azure Functions, Windows Virtual Desktop, Batch, HPC and containers
   recommend a solution for containers
   recommend a solution for automating compute management
Design a network solution
   recommend a network architecture (hub and spoke, Virtual WAN)
   recommend a solution for network addressing and name resolution
   recommend a solution for network provisioning
   recommend a solution for network security including Private Link, firewalls, gateways,
network segmentation (perimeter networks/DMZs/NVAs)
   recommend a solution for network connectivity to the Internet, on-premises networks, and other Azure virtual networks
   recommend a solution for automating network management
   recommend a solution for load balancing and traffic routing
Design an application architecture
   recommend a microservices architecture including Event Grid, Event Hubs, Service Bus,
Azure Queue Storage, Logic Apps, Azure Functions, Service Fabric, AKS, Azure App
Configuration and webhooks
   recommend an orchestration solution for deployment and maintenance of applications including ARM templates, Azure Automation, Azure Pipelines, Logic Apps, or Azure Functions
   recommend a solution for API integration
Design migrations
   assess and interpret on-premises servers, data, and applications for migration
   recommend a solution for migrating applications and VMs
   recommend a solution for migration of databases
   determine migration scope, including redundant, related, trivial, and outdated data
   recommend a solution for migrating data (Storage Migration Service, Azure Data Box, Azure File Sync-based migration to hybrid file server)