Microsoft 365 Certifications Overview

Introduction

Why Get Certified?

There are a ton of reasons to get a Microsoft Certification. If you’re reading this blog, I assume you’re interested, so let me give you the main reasons I see.

First, it’s good for your career! Certified professionals are also needed by Microsoft Partners for their Silver/Gold competencies, so having those certifications certainly increases your value inside the company.

However, for me personally, the biggest benefit is that it forces me to learn and master a certain topic. I am always more effective when I have a goal in mind, such as passing a certification, running a 5K, or winning in a sport, versus just doing something with no goal in mind. By aiming for that certification, I can really look at what Microsoft thinks that a certain job role needs to have. Then, I go into each one of them in my lab, try them out. Often, I am able to try new things I have never done before because maybe none of my clients wanted to implement a certain feature, or simply I never had access to it. With cloud skills becoming more and more important, certification can be simply a motivation/end goal for you to get out there and study the ins and outs of a certain Microsoft Product.

Microsoft 365 Certifications in 2020

There are a total of eight (8) certification options for Microsoft 365 (also called Modern Workplace) Professionals. The one you should go for really depends on how much experience you have with Microsoft 365 as well as what products you have the most experience in. Certifications are split in 3 categories depending on difficulty, Fundamentals, Associate, and Expert. The Fundamental level certification is Optional; however, you must pass an Associate level certification before being able to become an Expert. Not all Associate level certifications are available, however, I will specify this as we get deeper in the details.

Microsoft 365 Certified Fundamentals

The first certification is at the Fundamentals level. It is the Microsoft 365 Certified Fundamentals certification, for which you only need the exam MS-900. This certification is perfect whether you’re a technical salesperson, IT Professional or Developer, as it just covers the basics of Microsoft 365. If you’ve never taken a Microsoft certification exam before, this can also be a good way for you to try out an easier exam, so you can get used to the experience before going deeper with the more advanced exams.

Associate Level Certifications

There are 6 options for Associate level certifications, and this depends largely on what you want to specialize in. The six options are:

• Modern Desktop Administrator Associate (Modern Desktop Administrators deploy, configure, secure, manage, and monitor devices and client applications in an enterprise environment)
• Messaging Administrator Associate (Microsoft 365 Messaging Administrators deploy, configure, manage, and monitor messaging infrastructure, permissions, client access, mail protection, and mail flow in both on-premises, hybrid, and cloud enterprise environments)
• Teamwork Administrator Associate (Microsoft 365 Teamwork Administrators configure, deploy, and manage Office 365 workloads that focus on efficient and effective collaboration, such as SharePoint (online, on-premises, and hybrid), OneDrive, and Teams.)
• Security Administrator Associate (Microsoft 365 Security Administrators proactively secure Microsoft 365 enterprise and hybrid environments, implement and manage security and compliance solutions, respond to threats, and enforce data governance)
• Teams Administrator Associate (Microsoft Teams Administrators configure, deploy, and manage Office 365 workloads for Microsoft Teams that focus on efficient and effective collaboration and communication in an enterprise environment.)
• Developer Associate (Microsoft 365 Developers design, build, test, and maintain applications and solutions that are optimized for the productivity and collaboration needs of organizations using the Microsoft 365 platform)