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Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305)

Prepare for the AZ-305 certification exam by learning to design resilient, scalable enterprise solutions in Microsoft Azure. This course focuses on complex architecture, teaching you to balance cost, performance, and security across the Cloud Adoption Framework. You will explore how to integrate core services (from Compute and Networking to Identity and Governance) and ensure your infrastructure meets modern business requirements for high availability and seamless migration. This AZ-305 training is perfect for cloud engineers and IT pros who want to master the art of building enterprise infrastructures, and earn their Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification.

Updated May 2025

12Skills
79Videos
1Practice Exam
11hTotal

Who This Course Is For

This AZ-305 training is designed for IT professionals with 3–5 years of Azure experience who are ready to move from administration to high-level strategy. It is the definitive path for those pursuing roles as Azure Solutions Architects or Lead Cloud Engineers responsible for designing complex, enterprise-scale infrastructure.

Skills Your Team Will Gain

  • Designing identity and governance using Microsoft Entra ID, Azure Policy, and Key Vault
  • Selecting data storage solutions for relational and NoSQL workloads to optimize cost and performance
  • Planning business continuity and disaster recovery strategies with Azure Backup and Site Recovery.
  • Architecting compute and applications using Virtual Machines, AKS, and Serverless Functions
  • Configuring infrastructure and networking with VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute, and Azure Firewall
  • Evaluating monitoring and migrations using Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and the Cloud Adoption Framework

Course Curriculum

One skill is free to watch — no signup needed. The other 11 premium skills unlock for your whole team with a CBT Nuggets plan.

Free skill preview

Design an Azure Logging Solution

Knox HutchinsonDuration: 52m14 videos

Watch this complete skill free — the same trainer, videos, and labs your team gets with a plan.

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  • Design an Azure Logging SolutionFree52m · 14 videos
  • Premium skill.Design for Governance, Authentication, and Authorization1h 4m · 16 videos
  • Premium skill.Designing Authentication and Authorization59m · 14 videos
  • Premium skill.Design for Relational Data Resources1h 13m · 18 videos
  • Premium skill.Design Data Ingestion and Integration56m · 14 videos
  • Premium skill.Design Azure Solutions with Non-Relational Databases52m · 16 videos
  • Premium skill.Design for Disaster Recovery56m · 16 videos
  • Premium skill.Design for High Availability51m · 16 videos
  • Premium skill.Recommend Azure Compute Solutions53m · 14 videos
  • Premium skill.Design Azure Application Architectures49m · 16 videos
  • Premium skill.Design for Migrations to Azure51m · 14 videos
  • Premium skill.Recommend a Networking Solution52m · 12 videos
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Put this course to work for your team

Every plan includes this course plus the full library, virtual labs, and practice exams — or talk it through with sales.

For IT leaders

What IT leaders need to know before assigning this course

Azure architecture decisions affect security, resilience, cost control, and recovery planning across the organization. IT Directors assign this AZ-305 training when cloud administrators need to move beyond day-to-day administration and design Azure infrastructure that supports governance, identity, networking, data, compute, migrations, high availability, and disaster recovery requirements.

This course is a fit for experienced cloud administrators and senior IT Practitioners with roughly 3–5 years of Azure experience who are preparing for Azure Solutions Architect Expert responsibilities or AZ-305 exam readiness. The curriculum runs about 11 hours per learner, making it realistic for phased rollout across a cloud, infrastructure, or platform team without pulling staff away from operations for multiple days.

For change management, Training Managers can assign modules by priority — for example, governance and authentication first, then disaster recovery, networking, and migration design. CBT Nuggets Playlists and Team Reporting help leaders sequence training and track completion across the team.

Team Impact

How this training helps your team succeed

This training helps cloud teams make better Azure design recommendations before projects move into production. The course connects architecture topics that often get planned separately — identity, networking, data, compute, availability, disaster recovery, and governance — so teams can reduce rework and align designs to business requirements.

  • Improve audit readiness: Teams learn to design for governance, authentication, authorization, and Azure logging so cloud environments are easier to monitor and control.
  • Reduce downtime risk: Disaster recovery and high availability modules help teams plan resilient Azure solutions before outages occur.
  • Support better migration planning: Azure migration design content helps teams evaluate how workloads should move to Azure instead of treating migration as a lift-and-shift exercise only.
  • Strengthen platform decisions: Compute, application architecture, networking, relational data, non-relational data, and ingestion modules help teams recommend Azure services that fit workload requirements.

After completion

Capabilities your team walks away with

Knowledge

  • Azure logging design concepts for monitoring and operational visibility
  • Governance, authentication, and authorization design considerations in Azure
  • Relational and non-relational data resource design patterns
  • Data ingestion and integration options for Azure-based solutions
  • Disaster recovery and high availability principles for Azure workloads
  • Azure compute, application architecture, migration, and networking design areas covered by AZ-305

Ability

  • Recommend Azure infrastructure designs that balance security, resilience, data, compute, and networking needs
  • Evaluate authentication and authorization requirements before selecting Azure identity controls
  • Plan data platform approaches for relational databases, non-relational databases, and integration workflows
  • Design for business continuity by incorporating disaster recovery and high availability requirements
  • Recommend compute and application architecture options based on workload needs
  • Prepare more effectively for the Microsoft AZ-305 certification exam through structured coverage of core design domains

Readiness check

Confirm prerequisite knowledge before training begins

A short placement assessment on the CBT Nuggets assessments platform measures whether a learner already has the foundation this course assumes. IT Directors use it to put the right people in the right training — and any learner can take it right now to make sure they'll get full value from day one.

  • Questions generated from this course's own video transcripts — what gets measured is exactly what gets taught
  • Instant, per-learner results that show whether the prerequisite foundation is in place
  • Results roll up into team readiness reporting, so training hours go where they change outcomes
Runs on assessments.cbtnuggets.com — sign in with an Adept account so results roll up into team readiness reporting. Need one?
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If gaps show up, start here

Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104)

This entry-level Microsoft Azure Administrator training prepares aspiring Azure administrators to pass the AZ-104 exam — the single exam required to earn the Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate certification. This training builds hands-...

~17h

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) worth it?

Yes, the Azure Solutions Architect Expert cert is worth it: Azure is one of the leading cloud platforms globally and organizations of all sizes are migrating their infrastructure to it. The credential proves your ability with designing and implementing scalable, reliable and secure Azure solutions for them. As a credential, it represents the trust that organizations can put in you, knowing you can take their business needs and actualize them in their Azure network.

How much does the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert cost?

It costs $165 to take the AZ-305 and earn the Azure Solutions Architect Expert. The cert used to have two separate exams (AZ-303 and AZ-304), but Microsoft consolidated them, so you only need to pay for one exam. However, there is still a prerequisite certification, Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate – and its exam (AZ-104) costs $165 as well. So the total cost to earn the Azure Solutions Architect Expert is at least $330 before training and preparation costs.

How difficult is the Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) exam?

While obviously the difficulty of the exam varies for each person, the Azure Solutions Architect Expert is considered an advanced-level certification and the AZ-305 exam requires a solid understanding of Azure services, architecture and design principles. Study and preparation will only get you so far, you'll also need experience working with large-scale business problems and converting them into Azure-based solutions, which is hard to read or study about.

Does the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification expire?

Yes, the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert expires one year from the date you earn it. One year is an uncommonly short lifespan for an IT certification, but in an effort to keep the skills of everyone who earns their associate, specialty and expert certifications up-to-date with evolving technology, Microsoft requires frequent renewals. Fortunately, if your Azure Solutions Architect Expert is active and will expire within six months, the renewal exam for it is free.

How to study for the Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305)?

The test objectives for the Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) cover a comprehensive set of abilities and expertise required to architect, build, and manage complex cloud solutions using Microsoft Azure services. The best way to study for the AZ-305 tends to be in virtual simulations and test environments. Inside those, you can experiment with Azure services, try out scalability solutions and test security configurations without endangering a real network.

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