Certifications

Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Scientist Associate

Yessir, you read that right. I acquired the Azure Data Scientist Associate certification the other day. A little later than I was hoping for, but I got it done. If I have to blame anything or anybody, I'll blame the CGI-BJSS acquisition and all the stress and uncertainty that has brought.

In other news, did anybody notice that Microsoft has retired the Azure Data Engineer Associate certification as of March 30, 2025? Bummer. I liked that one. Glad I renewed it back in January of 2025 so I won't put that into the retirement bucket until it is expired next January.

Allright...on to the next thing...

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January 11

Looking Forward in 2025…

At the tailend of 2024, I was asked to put together an "engineer development plan" for my employer. In that plan I had put down a path of certifications to pursue in 2025. Originally, it was AWS AI Practitioner (optional), AWS Developer Associate, and AWS Solution Architect Associate. All of that between January 2025 and December 2025.

At the time in January 2025, I was toying to get the Azure AI Fundamentals, the AWS AI Practitioner, the AWS Developer Associate, and then the AWS Solutions Architect Associate certifications in that order. I picked up the Azure AI Fundamentals certification. It was easy enough with having to find drivers for the microphone on the laptop I was using and the very loud conference call that kicked off next door. The lesson to be learned here is to do the exams later in the evening when the bulk of people have gone home.

I got the Azure AI Fundamentals certification on January 8th and then my manager mentioned to me that I should plug a "perceived skill gap" between my current skillsets and where my employer is apparently wanting to go. Apparently, there is some work coming in the future around machine learning. Microsoft's certification that covers machine learning is Azure Data Scientist Associate. It's weird that it's not an "Expert" level certification because the exam for that is DP-100. The Cybersecurity Architect Expert is SC-100 and that's an Expert level certification.

I'm going to call an audible and go after the Azure Data Scientist certification and then after that get back on the AWS plan I outlined towards the beginning of this blog. Let's talk timing on when I'll get this certification. I think (given the current conditions at work which are subject to change), that it is reasonable to expect to pick up this certification sometime between February 1, 2025 and February 15, 2025. If I feel that I'm ready for it before then, I won't have a problem taking it earlier. If I get the certification earlier, that'll be lagniappe.

...and here we go!

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August 6

H2 2024 Update

Well...we're alittle over 1 month into the second half of 2024. It's been a bizarre July filled with a hurricane, a vacation, and some unexpected twists and turns.

Let's go over the TODO list of the things that I know I need to do.

Take and pass the GitHub Foundations exam (holdover from H1 2024)
~~Renew Information Protection and Compliance Administrator Associate (< 9/28/2024)~~ - Completed 8/6/2024
~~Renew Identity and Access Administrator Associate (< 10/9/2024)~~ - Completed 8/7/2024
~~Renew Security Operations Analyst Associate (< 10/28/2024)~~ - Completed 8/8/2024
~~Renew Cybersecurity Architect Expert (< 11/21/2024)~~ - Completed 8/9/2024
Give gRPC + .NET: Lessons from the Trenches talk to NHDNUG in September 2024
Attend HDNUG meetings
Attend NHDNUG meetings
Attend HAUG meetings
Attend Clear Measure Architect Forums
brainstorm ideas for another talk to give in 2025 (maybe with more of a Azure-cloud flavor?)

And then the areas that still need more clarification:

Decide on a cert path to go down
- GitHub - Actions, Advanced Security, Administration
- Azure AI - AI-900, AI-102
- AWS - AI Practitioner, Solutions Architect Associate, Developer, DevOps Engineer, Solutions Architect Professional

That's all I've got so far. I still need to have some conversations with people at work to figure out what I need to prioritize with respect to my employer. I'll provide an update when I have one.

Category: .NET, Azure, Career, Certifications | Comments Off

April 28

Q1 2024 Update

Let's go over the things that I have done in Q1 2024.

Renew Azure Data Engineer Associate - Completed 1/14/2024
Renew Azure Security Engineer Associate - Completed 1/15/2024
Renew Azure Solutions Architect Expert - Completed 1/16/2024
Renew Azure Developer Associate - Completed 1/17/2024
Renew Azure Cosmos DB Developer Specialty - Completed 1/18/2024
Renew DevOps Engineer Expert - Completed 1/19/2024
Acquire Azure Administrator Associate - Completed 2/23/2024

Talks

I was planning on just 1 talk this quarter, but BJSS (my employer), had other ideas. I gave a short talk as part of the 1st BJSS External Tech Forum. This talk covered some of the particulars of how we did at CodeLaunch including drafting a company, the hackathon, and the big event itself. I thought it went off well.

Events

We did CodeLaunch again this year. Unfortunately, we were eliminated in the first round. However, we picked a good company (Glydr) and had alot of fun working with them.

What were my misses?

Take and pass the GitHub Foundations exam
Give talk on gRPC + .NET to the BJSS Houston Tech Forum

I think the GitHub Foundations exam should be easy to prep for so I'll bump that to one of the higher priority items. The talk on gRPC + .NET I ended up giving on 4/25/2024. It was still late though. I've put in to give the talk to the Houston .NET User Group as well as the North Houston .NET Group. I'll post more about that here when those get scheduled.

That's all I've got for now. I'll post another update at the end of Q2. Back to work!

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January 12

Looking ahead to 2024…

I think I'm going to take an approach where I aim to do a project every month of 2024. It can be a certification, a talk, or an event. I think this approach gives me something that I can commit to doing and provide a flexible enough deadline to be able to get it done even with the rest of life happening around me. I have "projects" scheduled for every month in the first half of the year. I think when I get to June I'll stop, take a breath, and then plan out the remainder of 2024.

As far as BJSS work goes for 2024, I'm expecting to be on the same project throughout 2024. This will be good because I won't have the stress of having to change clients or do any ramping up for newer projects. This should also free up some time so I can work on other things too.

I also need to make an effort to post on this blog more about tech topics. Got any ideas?

2024

January 2024
- Take and pass the AZ-104 exam
- Take and pass the GitHub Foundations exam
February 2024
- CodeLaunch 2024
March 2024
- Give talk on gRPC + .NET to the BJSS Houston Tech Forum
April 2024
- Give talk on gRPC + .NET to the Houston .NET User Group
- Referee at the 2024 USA Powerlifting Collegiate National Championships
- Take Cat II referee exam/practical
May 2024
- Give talk on gRPC + .NET to the North Houston .NET User Group
June 2024
- Run the USA Powerlifting Summer Power Fest with Mike Hafenbrack
December 2024
- Participate in the Advent of Code 2024 (gotta get more BJSS Houston folks involved)

Certifications (New)

Here are the certification exams which I am prepping for right now. I was planning to have the AZ-104 taken and passed in 2023, but for reasons, that didn't happen. I passed the equivalent exam a few years ago while taking exams for the Azure Solutions Architect, so this is a "completitionist" task. I'll get it though. More labs, more practice exam questions, more reading...

Azure Administrator Associate (January 2024)
GitHub Foundations (January 2024)

Here is a list of certifications I could take this year. I don't anticipate getting the bulk of them, but I need a goal for beyond June 2024.

GitHub Advanced Security
GitHub Administration
GitHub Actions
AWS Developer Associate
AWS Solutions Architect Associate
AWS Data Engineer Associate
AWS SysOps Administrator Associate

Certifications (Renewals)

Here's a list of all the certifications I need to renew this year.

~~Renew Azure Data Engineer Associate (< 1/20/2024)~~ - Completed 1/14/2024
~~Renew Azure Security Engineer Associate (< 2/23/3024)~~ - Completed 1/15/2024
~~Renew Azure Solutions Architect Expert (< 3/3/2024)~~ - Completed 1/16/2024
~~Renew Azure Developer Associate (< 4/15/2024)~~ - Completed 1/17/2024
~~Renew Azure Cosmos DB Developer Specialty (< 4/30/2024)~~ - Completed 1/18/2024
~~Renew DevOps Engineer Expert (< 6/15/2024)~~ - Completed 1/19/2024
Renew Information Protection and Compliance Administrator Associate (< 9/28/2024)
Renew Identity and Access Administrator Associate (< 10/9/2024)
Renew Security Operations Analyst Associate (< 10/28/2024)
Cybersecurity Architect Expert (< 11/21/2024)

...and that's what I've got planned for 2024. I'll have to revisit this post in December 2024. I hope I get a bunch done.

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April 30

Passed Exam DP-420: Designing and Implementing Cloud-Native Applications Using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

I took the Exam DP-420: Designing and Implementing Cloud-Native Applications Using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB yesterday and passed it. So I've added a new badge to the Certifications page.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Cosmos DB Developer Specialty badge — Microsoft Certified: Azure Cosmos DB Developer Specialty

Allright...so what's next? Good question. I'm supposed to be rolling on to a project at work so that's going to curtail my free time to chase these certifications. Here's some ideas:

Got another idea? Let me know.

Category: Azure, Certifications | Comments Off

April 9

Passed DP-900: Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals

Found about a week's worth of time to prep and take the DP-900: Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals. Having passed it, I can now say I'm Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals. This was one of the easier exams I've taken. Probably because I took the DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure in the past and I took more time to prep for that one.

If you're looking to start taking Azure certification exams, this is a good first one to do to get a feel for how the exam process works, etc.

So what's next? Given that I'm on the bench currently and I have more time to dedicate to prepping for another certification; AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner. I'll have to take a deeper look into what that exam entails on Monday.

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February 24

Passed AZ-500: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies

Yep, you've read that right. I have passed the AZ-500: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies exam. When I did that, I got an email saying I won the following prize:

Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate

It's been awhile since I picked up the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert. It feels good to get another one. Specifically, the feeling you get when you click "Finish Test" in the exam, your score is displayed, and you passed.

I had the following question on BJSS's Slack this morning:

What practice exams did you do @Tony Cardella ? Any recommended learning materials ?
Sean D.

Excellent question and one that I've had before starting exam prep. Starting from scratch is a little daunting so I hope this helps point someone in the right direction.

20+ years experience in software development
MS Learn
AZ-500 MS Official Practice Exam
AZ-500 Microsoft Azure Security Technologies Study Cram

By themselves, no bullet point covers all the bases, rather each one provides a slightly different perspective on the exam. I do want to make sure I call out John Savill's Technical Training YouTube channel for the excellent video he put together. The video is almost 3 hours long and it looks like he filmed it in a single take. Respect.

So what's next? I'm not sure yet. I'm flirting with the idea of taking Exam DP-900: Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals. I'm open to other ideas though. Got an idea? Let me know.

Category: Azure, Certifications | Comments Off